Black Thoughts
by thisisforyou
Summary: FINALLY COMPLETE! Even the epilogue - a tad anticlimactic if you've been holding out for it. Sorry. Sirius Black always wanted a life full of adventure. But honestly, enough is enough.
1. The Hogwarts Express

**A/N: Here it is, the new, better-than-ever Black Thoughts! Typos removed! If you find any, send me a message please! Or anonymous review so I can delete it when I've fixed them. Thank you muchly! If you're new to this story, then welcome. You should know straight away that I watch this story on traffic, so I know if people read it without reviewing. Hundreds of people do it and it gets on my nerves. Please, **_**please**_** review! I will love you forever if you do. I won't know who you are if you don't.**

**OK? Ok. Enjoy.**

**-for you.

* * *

**

The Black family were earlier than usual this year, and the big clock in the middle of the station read quarter to eleven as they marched past platforms 7 and 8 with their elegant, straight noses in the air. They all looked so alike, the same tapered features, black hair, strict posture. Right down to the expression of disgust on their faces when they sent their haughty gaze toward the rushing crowd of Muggles around them.

Yep, thought Sirius resignedly. Slytherin pure-blood bastards, the lot of them. He was well shot of them.

They were his family, by blood if nothing else. Why, then, was he so different to them? He had broken the family tradition of belonging to Slytherin house. Lost on him were all the family beliefs of pure-blood hierarchy. And they knew it. Right from the day the Sorting Hat had placed him a world apart from them. And he needed no convincing to see that his was the better world.

He was at the station with James, having lived in the Potter house all holidays after his haphazard departure from Grimauld Place. He couldn't be what they wanted him to be. His Gryfindor friends... they appreciated that.

There was Moony now, looking a little shabbier than he had last time they saw him. He grinned wolfishly – everything about him was a little wolfish – and wheeled his trolley over to them. "Hey," he said breathlessly. "Good summer?"

"Great," said James. "Padfoot's had its ups and downs, though, didn't it mate?" Sirius grunted in assent as Remus Lupin's grey eyes contracted in pity.

"Ran away from home," he grunted. He jerked his chin towards his blood brother. "That git joined the Death Eaters." Moony patted him on the back.

"S'pose it was only a matter of time," he said, shrugging the hand off him as Moony and James both nodded. "Hey, there's Wormy!" They didn't need to look around. They could hear the frantic argument from a mile off. Peter Pettigrew was having a "disagreement" with his mother.

They were another two that hardly seemed related; Peter was small and ratty while his mother was a large woman who liked to shout. When finally he caught up to them and managed to shake off his mother, who was earning him a lot of attention, he sighed miserably.

"What's up, Wormy?" James slapped him on the back so hard he stumbled and almost fell over. He blinked his watery eyes nervously.

"I didn't want to tell my mother my O.W.L. Results," he said. "She found out in the car that I failed Transfiguration and Potions." James and Sirius exchanged raised eyebrows and rolled eyes. Moony looked incredulous.

"After all those study notes I gave you, all that revision, you _still _failed Transfiguration?"

"Merlin's mercy, Wormy, how thick can you get?" His gaze dropped to his shoes.

"I know," he said sadly. "I'll never be as clever as you guys."

"But where would the world be without stupid people?" said James cheerfully, making to clap his back again. A look from Moony stopped his hand and started his mouth. "We love you anyway, man." Peter smiled weakly.

"So what did you guys get in your O.W.L.s?" Moony slipped in an hour later as they wandered through the train, back from a search for the lady with the food trolley.

"I received Outstanding results," said Sirius dramatically, shaking back his long hair. "Only got an 'A' in Astronomy, though – I reckon they took points off 'cause I knocked over old Tofty's chair." James laughed and even Moony chuckled. "James?"

"Mostly 'O's. Couple of 'E's, I think. Failed History of Magic, but only just and who cares about that anyway?" He said noncommittally.

"That's the spirit, mate," said Sirius and Peter seemed to brighten at the news that even James Potter failed something.

"Here's our carriage. Still empty, shall we - oh, no, it's not..." There was a girl sitting in one corner, dressed in brightly-coloured Muggle clothes with her knees drawn up to her chest. She was poring over a thick book, reading fast with a concentrated frown. She had dark hair and bold brown eyes. Her unusually pale wand was scratching at the pages. "Never seen her before," whispered Moony.

"Come on," said James impatiently and slid the door open. The girl looked up and smiled at the four boys with full lips. Peter tentatively smiled back, and the others grinned.

"I don't mind," she said in a thick Scottish accent.

"Good," said Sirius, slumping heavily into the seat opposite her. "It was our carriage to start with." James pushed himself down next to him. Moony rolled his eyes at his friends' rudeness, but cast only a fleeting smile at the girl before sitting too. She went back to her book with a faintly amused grin on her delicate face. Sirius arrogantly considered her for a bit. She was quite pretty, he saw. Pretty enough to almost make him flush as she looked up at him through long lashes. Sirius looked around the carriage in pursuit of a new topic.

"So," he said awkwardly. "Uh... what subjects are you guys taking?" Moony and James laughed at the tone of the statement, but Peter missed the humor.

"Well, I don't really know anymore," he said sadly. "Do you think Professor Dumbledore will let me do Transfiguration? Or Mum'll kill me."

"I don't doubt that," said James in a mock-worried voice. Peter didn't get the touch of sarcasm, however, and his nervous face began to look terrified as Sirius joined in the cheerful baiting.

"Nope, I don't reckon you've got a chance, mate," he said seriously. Peter went pale. It always gave Sirius a kind of savage pleasure, taunting Peter like this and watching him squirm. Especially when he had just been embarrassed in front of someone like this girl. It made him feel bad sometimes when they went too far, but Sirius had learned to quash his conscience.

"I reckon you'll be okay. Professor Dippet will work something out," said Moony soothingly. Sirius shook his head in disgust as Peter turned a shining face up to his savior, full of hope.

"You really think so?" Moony sent Sirius and James a warning glance.

"Yes," he said firmly. Sirius' hands curled into fists and he turned to look out the smudged window. He needed something to release his pent-up frustration from the Black family. And if Moony wouldn't let him tease Peter...

He willed up a savage remark to throw at his best friends, but his mouth was hardly open when he bit it back. Moony didn't deserve it. He was just looking out for his friends. And he, Sirius, was just being Black. _I guess you can't change what you are,_ he thought sadly. He rested his head on the cold glass of the windowpane. _Worthless. Just like them._ James shifted in his seat to lay a hand on his shoulder.

Voices in the corridor. A boy and a girl, arguing viciously with raised voices, uncaring of the whispers accumulating around them. Sirius felt James stiffen beside him. He looked around – he knew that voice. His handsome, fine-boned face cracked into a smile.

"_Snivellus._"

* * *

Lily's pretty face was flushed with anger, a lock of her smooth red hair falling untidily over her face. Snape's usually pale face looked like wax now, pallid complexion shining eerily in the half-light of the train passage.

Like a torch on dry straw, the sight of the gawky, batlike teenager set Sirius' piled-up anger aflame. He plunged a hand into his pocket, but James grabbed his arm. Sirius looked around at the boy behind the gripping, goblin-like fingers, and saw an expression of such hatred and disgust on his face it almost made him feel better about his own feelings.

"Is this _thing_ bothering you, Evans?" Lily shot James a look of distaste before turning back to Snape. Sirius couldn't decipher the strange look that crossed her face as she looked at him. His dark eyes were pleading.

Lily sighed. "Yeah," she said softly, not looking at anyone. "He is." James let go of Sirius' arm and grabbed his own wand. Sirius followed suit and the two of them flanked Lily, wands pointed at Snape. James gave his wand a flick towards the back of the now curving train.

"Go," he demanded, jerking his head to follow his wand. The black depths of Snape's narrow eyes gazed beseechingly at Lily. She took a shaky breath and looked up at Snape.

"Just go, Severus," she said, so quietly even Sirius beside her had to strain to hear her. "Just go." A tear spilled over the edge of his eye and drizzled down his sallow cheek. Abruptly, he turned and stalked jerkily down the corridor.

"What's going on? Who's that?"

The crowd gathered to watch the argument all turned to the newcomer. It was the girl from the carriage.

"That," spat Sirius savagely, "was Snivellus Snape."

"Don't call him that. You've no consideration, any of you." She shot James a look that would have caused the leaves on a tree to shrivel and die. James opened his mouth but she was quicker. "I didn't ask you to interfere!" She muttered something that sounded like "_Boys,_" and turned to walk away.

"I know," said the girl calmly. She looked at Sirius and grinned teasingly. "Terrible." Lily observed her with raised eyebrows. "Laura," she said, putting a hand out to Lily. The latter regarded it, and for a second Sirius thought she was going to ignore the offer. Then Lily Evans smiled back and took the hand. The two girls walked the way Snape had moments ago. Sirius watched them go, a faint smile playing on his smooth face as their words drifted back to him:

"You must be new here."

"I'm from Scotland."

* * *

"Sirius!" The high, girlish shriek issued from the crowd behind the boys. The aforenamed boy winced visibly. Sniggers emanated from the crowd as he turned slowly, dreading the eager attention the girl lavishly spread over him like butter on bread. He grimaced involuntarily and attempted to turn it into a smile.

"Eva," he said jovially through clenched teeth. James snorted beside him as she ran up to him, a huge smile splitting her tanned face.

"I've missed you," she said breathlessly, and before he could stop her, she threw her arms around him in a suffocating hug.

"Eva," he choked, "No hugs! Let go!" She did so, reluctantly. He looked down slightly and saw her widen her huge blue eyes.

"Why not?" she was the picture of innocence; an angelic innocence with her blond straight hair and blue eyes; an innocence that was lost in Sirius' irritation for her unfaltering affection.

"I'm... not a hugging kind of guy." The words sounded lame, but Eva seemed to buy them. She pouted prettily for a second before changing the subject.

"Well, Sirius, are you coming back to Care of Magical Creatures? You know what fun we used to have in that class," she said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"Are you kidding? Professor Kettleburn scares the willies out of me."

"Well, let's hope he doesn't scare the willy _off_ you! You might need it!" The crowd joined her girlish laugh. Sirius tried not to scowl. At that moment, the train stopped with a jerk.

"About time," Sirius growled amid James and Moony's faint snickering. Through the dark of night outside, he could see the lights of the vast castle.

Home.


	2. Changes

Even now, the transformation was painful. He knew that it was only a tiny part of the pain Moony felt involuntarily, but that didn't mean his share was comfortable. His skin prickled, a thousand pin-sized drops of pain sprinkled over his skin as hair shot from the roots all over his body; his muscles knotted, cramped as he bent to all fours and bone and sinew twisted to accommodate the new form; pain pierced his fingers as claws grew from his shrinking hands. His body twisted, contorted as man became dog; human worries falling away as his mind became simpler; he loosed a howl and a short bark as his throat convulsed. The black dog lingered for a moment on the discomfort of familiarizing colourless sight. Then he bounded away.

Sirius shuddered and looked back down at the scrawled note in his still-shaking but comfortingly human hands. _Full moon 20__th__ Sept._ He looked up, over his broiling cauldron, across the noisy dungeon. James' grinning face met him from over the top of a cauldron that was steaming in such a way that intricate swirls of smoke twisted and writhed in the air before his messed hair. Slughorn, the rotund, lazy Potions Master, noticed the condition of the potion and made his labored way across the room. Sirius rolled his eyes at the man slowly. He scribbled a note to Moony sitting on the other side of the room.

_Join me on the Dark side._

For most of the class around Sirius were Slytherins, a few already Death Eaters. Sirius' cousin Narcissa leaned her pretty blond head on the arm of stocky Rudolphus Lestrange. His face sour, Sirius turned his eyes across the dungeon as he surreptitiously folded the note into a crane. He saw Snape, scribbling furiously in the margins of his copy of _Advanced Potion Making_. Sirius frowned as he saw that the gawky, sallow-faced boy was adding a clockwise stir to his steady anticlockwise movement. He smiled crookedly. First lesson of the year and already old Snivellus was flustered into mistakes. He tapped the crane with his wand; it flapped its fragile wings twice before taking off and soaring towards Moony. He waited until Slughorn had shuffled past before unfolding it.

Moony's face darkened briefly as he read the letter. No doubt he was thinking of the uncontrollable frenzy that was full moon. He glanced up and around Sirius, his grey eyes taking in the crowd of Slytherins. He grimaced sympathetically.

At that point, the sound of the trilling alarm broke through his reverie to signify the end of class. With a loud whoop, he pushed himself out of his chair and Vanished his Potion. He was dimly aware of James and Moony repeating the gesture beside him. Sirius exited the dungeon backwards, already talking full-pace to James. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Snape edge jerkily past, but he paid him no attention. Lily Evans stalked by, twisting her body as she squeezed past the part of Sirius (most of him) that was blocking he narrow doorway. James hardly blinked. Laura stood in front of him, waiting patiently for him to move. It was a few moments later that Sirius realised he was staring, at which point he fought the angry blush creeping across his fine-boned cheeks and moved out of the dungeon.

"James!" The three boys all looked up, but only one recognized the voice. She called his name excitedly, and he returned the emotion as he looked towards her shining face. Sirius caught Moony's eye and suppressed a snigger.

"Alice!" the voice was almost a sigh, barely a breath. Passing students turned to watch the passionate embrace that followed. "I missed you," he said quietly, so only Sirius could hear.

"Well, you could have written," she said, her brittle voice accusing. James adopted an expression of utmost shame. The barest of glances flicked the air between Moony and Sirius, then without a word to each other, both walked off together.

"See you at dinner, Prongs!" Sirius called over his shoulder. He wasn't sure if James heard him, so engrossed was he in listening to the account of Alice's holiday. Moony cut into Sirius' silence.

"It's nice to see he's over Lily Evans, I suppose."

"I dunno if he really is over her, though. He still reacts when she's around, you know. But, man..." here his voice took on an almost wistful quality, "Alice Walker! Of all the people... I never..." Alice Walker was tall, thin, and athletically beautiful. Dark blond hair bounced in loose, friendly curls around her soft cheekbones, playing on the nape of her neck. Her green eyes shone with a brightness that never faded, even when she was upset or sick. Her freckled complexion and snub nose suggested days spent in the sun, having a good time.

"Did you see the look on Frank Longbottom's face when she said yes, though?" said Moony wonderingly. "I _thought_ he had his eye on her, but I wasn't expecting that." Sirius nodded broodingly. "Oh, speak of the devil... Frank!" The last word came on raised voice in greeting to the big guy. He was solidly built, long deep brown hair falling around his face. Blue eyes framed by long lashes peeked out from a round face with ears that stuck out somewhat. A squashed-looking nose betrayed the fights Frank insisted on having with the bigger Slytherins. The big man looked up expectantly and saw the two of them calling. His clear, shining face brightened and he joined them in their walk back to the common room.

"Hey guys," he said. His voice was deep, soothing somehow. They returned the greeting and began to discuss holidays. This topic kept them going all the way to the common room, but there it kind of petered out, leaving the three boys in silence as they entered the warm, cozy-looking room.

It was circular in shape, being in the middle of Gryfindor tower. The stone walls were covered in thick red drapes emblazoned with the gold lion to keep the heat in. The whole room reflected the warm colours of orange and red, coupling with the huge fireplace to give the whole tower a warm, safe feeling. People in black robes scattered thinly on the floor, most of them tall and all of them wearing the red and yellow striped ties that placed them in Gryfindor house. Sirius relaxed on entering the tower room, enveloped in its homely feeling. He breathed in heavily, taking in the warm air like a breath of heaven. This place was heaven for him – a haven away from the dank, dripping dungeons of his family's legacy. The cushy armchairs by the empty fireplace were quickly filled by already aching bodies. Moony shot Sirius a glance that flicked towards the seemingly empty wall beside the doors do the dormitories. He let his gaze stray there too, fleetingly, like an approving glance at a girl's body. The red door did not form.

"Well," Frank broke in loudly, "I have to go to the library. I don't believe, it, I've been back for half a day and already I have more homework than I could shake a fist at..." Sirius' warm farewell went unnoticed as Frank eased his way out of the door.

Sirius jumped up and almost ran to the wall that materialized into a solid red-painted door before them. Slowing themselves down to an inconspicuous walk, the two eager boys grasped the handle and passed out of Gryfindor tower. They didn't know where the door led, but they didn't care – they had never cared where the actual location of their secret hideout was. James had led them to it, saying his father had come there. Sirius had not expected the door to be there, that first time James had reached for the handle. But that seemed to be the magic of the room beyond – if you weren't expecting it, the door simply was not there. With a tangled breath caught in his white throat, Sirius stepped over the threshold and into the starkly white room.

The walls were wooden, and cheaply whitewashed like the homes of England's poor. A double bed sat at one end, covers awry from the time last year when Sirius had slept in it, a canopy stretching across the tops and falling clumsily over the high posts at each corner. Four plump beanbags sat at odd angles across the room's expanse. It wasn't a large room, yet it never seemed small when they were in it. It was just big enough. A dark wooden writing desk sat against the wall, sharply contrasting with the shocking whiteness of the rest of the room. It was the Marauder's hideout, their secret place. The place where they planned for new moon, where they had space to just be themselves together and hide away from the world. Sirius threw himself into the black beanbag, feeling it fly up around his legs, and loosed a relaxed sigh. School had begun.

* * *

The revered silence of the cool hallways was dissolved like candy-floss before a child's open mouth as the boys reached the Great Hall. A wry grin twisted its way onto Sirius' face as he swept his eyes across the long tables, seeing female faces turned up at him with varying degrees of admiration. Once Sirius had hated himself for his inherited good looks, won from an old-blood family he had longed to be rid of from the day he was old enough to imagine a life without them. Now he accepted them as his own, used them to his advantage when presented with a scene like this. He flashed his white teeth at a few of the faces staring his way. Then he saw James waving to him from the middle of the far left table, people surrounding him, roaring with good-natured laughter. The crowd shifted to let Sirius and Moony through and sit next to their friend at the Gryfindor table. Sirius caught a teasing glimpse of Laura sitting next to Alice on the other side of James before Peter attempted to snag his attention.

Suddenly the Hall fell silent as Professor Dippet stood. He was a short wizard, so physically there wasn't much difference between standing up and sitting down, but Dippet had the gift of manipulating the mood of his students to listen and be moved by his speeches. Today, however, he simply coughed once and said a brief introduction.

"Welcome to the start of another year! I'm sure you're all exhausted and ravenous from your first day of classes, but before we begin the feast, Professor Dumbledore would like to say a few words." That was it, all he said. But the suspense in the room was almost tangible as Dumbledore raised his slender body off his chair to Dippet's right. The Marauders shared excited glances. Dumbledore never spoke at dinner time.

He stood there for a few seconds, the crowd of students staring avidly, his silver beard glinting in the candlelight. Then his resonant voice spoke, softly, and the whole room heard what he said. "This year, the French school of magic, Beauxbatons, has decided to do something that hasn't been done for centuries. I will be taking a number of students with me to France to participate in an event renowned throughout the wizarding world for the bravery, danger and glory involved." Here, Sirius glanced at James and saw in his eyes the same wild glint that he knew raged in his own.

"I am talking, of course, of the Triwizard Tournament."


	3. Jealousy

The couple stood against the wall, the girl's arms around his neck, his arms twining over her hips. Shadows leaned from the corner, playing over their forms, taunting the watcher with their cloaking darkness. He could see her well enough, her sharp nose inches from his, her dark eyes shyly peering from behind lowered lashes. He could see how her robes fell over her narrow hips, clinging to her thin legs. But he couldn't see the object of her attentions.

It had been three weeks since Hogwarts began, and three meetings had been held for those wishing to take part in the Triwizard Tournament. Of course Sirius and James had attended all of these; the attention they would gain from being selected to go to France seemed an opportunity too sweet to resist. With great complaint, Moony had joined them, but his wolfish face, prematurely lined with worry and concern, betrayed his excitement to his closest friends. Frank had been there, his round face shining with apprehension and nerves for the final selection, due to take place at the beginning of October. So too had Lily Evans and Laura, the latter still possessing a smoky kind of beauty that made Sirius struggle to take his black eyes away from her.

Cocky and sure of himself, Sirius had turned up dramatically, entering with the usual bang of the door and bounce into the filling room. She had turned her head away as though his actions were something nasty she didn't like to look at, like someone being sick. Unperturbed, Sirius had continued through the meetings with the arrogance he gave all matters in life. But he had soon come to the conclusion that she was with someone else, and here he was, assured of his conclusion by the sight of her draped across him like a fond cloak.

He already hated the guy, though he didn't know him. He was sure to be someone unworthy of her affections. Then, softly, he heard her whisper the other man's name.

In the same instant, Laura leaned back and Sirius got a clean view of the stranger's face. White-hot fury shot through his body.

"I love you, Regulus."

His brother.

* * *

The Marauders had only managed to pull one good prank on the Slytherins before October was upon them like a rampaging Hippogriff. Lucius Malfoy entered the Great Hall on the second night in the month with singed eyebrows and an ugly welt on his nose, but Sirius and Moony turned theirs the other way and pretended not to notice, patting James on the back as he doubled over in a violent fit of coughing.

Sirius surveyed the room. He counted thirty people standing in a cluster in the middle. The long house tables had been pushed to the sides. The hall was empty of teachers. "Are they going to take us by surprise?" James whispered.

"We'd better be prepared, so if they do, we won't be surprised," Sirius replied. Moony frowned logically. He opened his mouth to speak, but the door leading to the Entrance Hall suddenly burst open. Professors Dumbledore and Dippet entered with a bang of the door and a sweep of the cloak. The happy buzz of chatter stilled instantly. The two men stood on the stage and faced the pupils. Dumbledore smiled.

"It's extremely comforting to see that so many people wish to be pushed out of their comfort zones," he said. There was a tiny ripple of laughter among those of the students that weren't losing their heads in panic. Dumbledore waited patiently for silence again. "Professor Dippet and I will take you one by one into this room," he indicated a door to the side of the High Table, "And test you individually on your magical knowledge and capability. Any questions before we begin?" Silence stretched awkwardly before him. He smiled comfortingly. "Excellent. Then let us get onto it." And the two of them turned and swept into the room, Dippet catching onto the hand of a fourth-year and dragging the shaking girl in behind him.

Slowly, the room emptied. The three boys drew nearer and nearer to the high table. In the dwindling group, Sirius spotted Lily Evans, looking wary in a crowd of Slytherins. Laura was there, too, her slim fingers intertwined with Regulus's. Sirius felt his cheeks flush. He saw Snape, looking awkward as Rudolphus Lestrange thumped him on the back, just like Sirius and James did with Wormtail. The three other Black cousins were there too, Narcissa and Bellatrix in the midst of the Slytherins, Andromeda standing slightly apart. Sirius tore his gaze away from them as Frank Longbottom emerged, beaming, from the room. Andromeda passed him to slip her lithe figure past the door. Sirius caught sight of a deep darkness, a flash of light, before the heavy oak door swung closed again.

Sirius went first out of the three of them, letting the door snap closed behind him. The room was pitch black, and Sirius began to feel claustrophobic in the narrow space. Then light flared, revealing the two professors sitting at an ancient-looking writing desk. "Sirius Black," Professor Dippet said in an ethereal, spooky tone. Sirius laughed. It was like some Muggle pantomime. Dippet looked put-out by his reaction, but Dumbledore only smiled.

"That's right," he said kindly, "don't be afraid." Sirius tried to look scathing. "Now, Sirius," he said, his soft voice level, "I wonder if you could perform for me a Summoning Charm."

* * *

The lists were up in the Gryfindor common room the next day. Alice Walker found it before they did, and she stood waiting for them to emerge from their dormitories. "France, James?" she said, her voice silky soft and somehow deadly. James' eyes widened. "You didn't tell me you were trying out for the Tournament."

"Well, Alice -" he began slowly, but she didn't want to listen.

"You'll be gone _all year!_" she shrieked, the early risers in the common room turning their heads to look. "What did you expect me to do all year when you're gone?" James opened his mouth again and Sirius smothered a laugh as Alice's shrill voice cut over him again. "No!" she screamed, her brown face turning red. James cowered. "I won't put up with it, James, I won't! It's over between us, you hear me? Over!" Behind them, Frank Longbottom tripped on the bottom stair and knocked James off his feet as Alice stood in front of him, evidently waiting for an apology. It was lucky he did, Sirius thought as he saw Lily Evans smirking from the armchair by the fireplace. Both Frank and James stuttered apologies. Alice shook her head. She turned to Sirius and Moony, who flinched. "Have fun in France, you two," she said coldly, and stalked away.

"We got in?" Moony sounded surprised. "No way!"

"Of course we got in, Moony, did you see the others there? Cheer up, Prongs, she'll forgive you before we leave." James stood up again slowly.

"I don't like to say I told you so," began Moony reasonably.

"Then don't," James snapped. He slouched over to an armchair and threw himself into it. He sighed. "Sorry," he said weakly. "You're right. I should have told her ages ago." Behind them, Frank rushed over to the noticeboard and let out a howl of delight.

"I'm in!" he yelled in boyish excitement, pulling the sheet of parchment off the wall and bringing it over to the sofa. "Can you believe it? All four of us!" Moony smiled kindly at the older boy as Sirius leapt up and pulled the sheet out of his hands.

"All of that group of Slytherins are in, too," said James as he looked at it over Sirius' shoulder. He shook his head, his black hair flying.

"Dear cousin Bellatrix missed the cut," he said, smirking. "Oh, she'll be furious." James snorted. "Hey, Lily and Laura got in, too! And Andromeda," he quieted as his dark eyes swept down the list. His brows contracted. "How'd Snivelly get in?" he wondered. James shrugged.

"One of life's great mysteries," he said airily. "Meeting in the Great Hall after dinner... excellent. Wow, we're leaving on October 29th! That's only..." he paused to count on his fingers, frowning momentarily as he ran out of fingers to count on. "...26 days away! Then we're out for a whole year! This could be a great opportunity to..." he lowered his voice and waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Get one on the ladies," he finished. Sirius snorted.

"Come on, mate, at least pretend you're upset about Alice before you jump back on Evans," he drawled. And, arguing cheerfully, the four of them left for breakfast. A minute later, Peter Pettigrew emerged tousle-haired from the dormitory to find the common room almost deserted.

* * *

The 29th came so fast that the Marauders weren't ready for it; their trunks lay open and spilling over at the edges as the boys fitfully attempted to stuff their things into them. In days to come, Peter would find that he was missing a few of his possessions, but at the time he was eagerly helping his only friends get ready for a trip they would take without him; the first of many. After minutes of frenzied silence, James spoke in his usual drawling voice.

"Padfoot," he drawled incredulously, "why do I have _your_ underwear in my trunk?" Sirius frowned.

"How do you know they're mine?" he asked. Most of the clothes that he and James didn't display to the general public (like underwear) were similar. Unless... "They're not the ones..." James held them up. Moony burst into such violent laughter that he collapsed on his bed and hit his toe on his half-full trunk.

"They're certainly not mine," James replied nonchalantly. Sirius felt his face go from red to crimson to maroon. There was a reason he usually wore his underwear _under_ his clothes. James chuckled. "Hey Padfoot, maybe you should wear these so that everyone can see them," he teased. Sirius lunged for James but he darted out of the way and wedged the offending boxers onto his head. Moony hooted with laughter as a wild chase ensued; Sirius heartily pursuing James around and around the small dormitory. Soon they both could hardly move for laughing.

The door opened. James, his vision clouded with tears of mirth, didn't see it in time and smacked straight into it. Sirius' boxers slipped down over one eye as he scrambled to his feet.

"Dear me," came a silvery voice from underneath a silvery beard. "There doesn't seem to be much packing going on in here."

"Professor!" James whipped the boxers from his head. Sirius snatched them from his loose grip and shoved them into his trunk. Dumbledore chuckled merrily.

"I don't want to spoil your party, but unfortunately we're all waiting for you down in the Entrance Hall, so it might be better if I -" he waved his wand and belongings from all over the room flew this way and that before falling into the appropriate trunks. "Now perhaps you gentlemen could do a last sweep of the bathroom before we depart... And say goodbye to Mr. Pettigrew, of course." In all the ruckus over the underwear, Peter had been forgotten. Moony rushed into the bathroom and came back with empty hands; their things were gone already. Peter tried not to look too forlorn as they said hurried goodbyes and rushed off down the many stairs to the Entrance Hall.

"How're we getting to France, Professor?" Moony asked as they hotfooted it down the third flight of stairs.

"Ah," said Dumbledore, his blue eyes twinkling, "I'm afraid we wizards can never resist showing off when we get together." The three shared excited glances. Then they stepped out into the sunlight, and the three boys stood speechless, staring at what they could hardly believe they could see.


	4. The Snitch

A huge, iridescent golden Snitch lay sparkling on the lawn in front of them. Its gleaming wings, layered and spiny, hovered with the speed of a hummingbird's. Nine other students lounged in the shadow of the enormous construction, waiting for them. To Sirius's disgust, most of them were Slytherins. He scowled at Lucius Malfoy, whose nose was healed and his eyebrow regrown. Funnily enough, he noticed, a third of the company were Blacks: himself, Regulus, Andromeda, and Narcissa. Andromeda smiled at him kindly; alone of all the Blacks Sirius knew, Andy was sweet and understanding, and Sirius got on with her well.

"Our party is now complete," said Dumbledore serenely, "And now, let us set off, so that we may arrive there for the morning." In his usual sedate step, he approached the giant Snitch, which was easily three times as tall as he was, and placed a hand on the intricate swirls inlaid across the giant ball.

A door appeared, where there was nothing before. James breathed something that sounded like "Flesh memories" beside him. Moony looked at the other two, his eyes shining.

"That's really impressive magic," he said softly. "To create something of that size, that will actually carry people and fly."

"We don't know if it can do that yet," Sirius pointed out. "But if it's Dumbledore, I'm sure it can." Silently, Dumbledore beckoned his students with a long finger. Excitedly, the twelve students stepped over the giant Sntich's threshold. Sirius's mouth fell open.

It was a thousand times bigger inside than it was out. The floor was perfectly flat, but the walls curved around them. A spiral staircase spun up through the middle of the floor, and above, they could see several floors flying off it. The whole place had a warm, golden glow and felt very homely. On the floor they were on now was grouped an odd assortment of armchairs and beanbags and low-slung tables.

"Professor," Sirius said wonderingly, "It's amazing." Professor Dumbledore chuckled.

"It is, isn't it? I must admit I'm rather proud of it. There are four floors above this one; the first three you see are for your own accommodation. There are four beds on each. I had assumed that you ladies would all choose to stay together, but now I see that, oddly, all of you are from either Slytherin House or Gryfindor House, so you may choose the sleeping arrangements as you will..." He kept talking, but Sirius stopped listening. He caught, out of the corner of his eye, Regulus giving Laura a look that plainly said where he wanted her to sleep. Sirius scowled.

In the end, however, the girls did decide to sleep together on the middle floor. Sirius and James rushed up to the top floor to claim it for themselves, Moony and Frank, leaving Rudolphus, Regulus, Snape and Malfoy to make themselves comfortable on the lowest of the sleeping floors. The very top floor, Dumbledore informed them, was his own and not to be entered by anyone else. Then they peered out the door to see what looked like the whole school on the lawn in front of them, waving them off as the giant Snitch, with a beat of its flimsy-looking wings, lifted off the ground and began to fly away.

They were off.

* * *

It was mid-afternoon when Dumbledore descended from the top floor. "It seems that we have arrived in France a lot earlier than I expected," he said, in a ringing voice that silenced the buzzing students. "We will be landing on a beach in about five minutes," he continued, and Sirius, James and Moony exchanged gleeful glances, "Feel free to wander around if you will, but Muggle clothing must be worn at all times. I must impress upon all of you," his eyes twinkled as he surveyed the Marauders, "the importance of Wizarding Secrecy." Then there was the slightest bump, and the Snitch hit the ground.

The twelve people poured out, the four Marauders laughing and screaming happily. They stripped down to their boxers unashamedly, shouting challenges back to the Slytherins, who followed suit hurriedly before all eight boys rushed down to the line of the sea and disappeared beneath the waves. Looking back, Sirius saw Lily and Andromeda hesitate as Laura looked at them, then his cheeks flushed as she began to strip too. Narcissa gave them a haughty look before stalking away. The three other girls made their way down to the water.

"What're you looking at?" The voice was only an inch from his ear; soft, threatening. He turned around, leaning away from Regulus.

"Who said I was looking at anything?" he said sullenly.

"You stay away from her," Regulus snarled. Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"Whatever," he dismissed. He was a little wary of the older boy. Laura reached them as Regulus began to wade away.

"What's happening?" She asked in her accent. Regulus shook his head and reached for her hand, but she pulled it out of his reach. "No, what's happened?"

"I glanced back to see if you guys were following, and he jumped at me and told me I wasn't allowed to look at you." Sirius said. He knew he'd done more than glance, but the way she looked at him said that he was possessive to a fault. It didn't surprise Sirius in the least. Regulus looked as if he was about to retort, maybe even strike out, but at that moment a wave hit the three of them, and Regulus, unprepared for it, was swept away while Laura somehow ended up in Sirius' arms, her wet singlet clinging to his bare chest.

"Sorry," she laughed awkwardly, pulling away from him. He laughed too and began to turn away, but she childishly splashed him in the face. Minutes later they were splashing each other and pushing each other over, Lily, Andromeda, James and Moony had joined in, and Regulus was nowhere to be seen. The golden Snitch had faded into the clumps of tussock grass littering the dunes, and Dumbledore, with his long silver hair and beard, was busy attempting to light a fire. Then stocky Rudolphus Lestrange got caught in the middle of a splash aimed at Lily, and soon all the Slytherins were involved, jumping and splashing until the light began to fade.

Suddenly he caught sight of Regulus and Laura, wrapped so tightly around one another that Sirius could hardly tell where one ended and the other began. He saw James, a huge smile on his face as he helped Lily up in the aftermath of a wave. Suddenly he felt alone, and felt tears creep up behind his eyes. He fought them back until it hurt.

Professor Dumbledore called them in at that moment, and shivering with a cold none of them had been able to feel before, they traipsed in to where Dumbledore had managed to create a blazing fire. Rudolphus, a haughty but generally cheerful boy, shook Sirius' hand. "That was fun," he said genially. "I can't believe you're not in Slytherin." Sirius forced a smile. He wandered over to a spot slightly away from everyone else, waving to James and Moony to signal that he wanted to be alone for a minute. He sat down heavily in the sand and waited for the moment to pass.

"Sirius," came the voice floating up from the direction of the camp. He looked up; Laura, a towel draped over her shoulders like a fluffy shawl, stood by him, her dark eyes concerned. He smiled. The movement felt strange on his face after fighting back tears so viciously.

"Hey." She smiled back in a relieved manner as he spoke, as if she had expected him to bite her.

"What're you doing?" He turned his eyes back to the wavering sun before tears could push at his voice again.

"Nothing." He knew he sounded sullen as the words escaped his lips. She gave one of her tinkling little laughs.

"You know it's physically impossible to do nothing." He nodded shortly, not trusting himself to speak. "So what're you doing?" she asked again.

"Nothing much."

The breath that came from her was almost, but not quite, a laugh. He looked up at her. It was meant to be funny. She sat down in the sand next to him. "Where's Regulus?" he asked, more bitter than he had intended. The look she gave him was skeptical.

"Who cares?" He knew she didn't mean that she didn't care, but that he shouldn't. "What happened between you and him, anyway? You seem to hate each other more than just the usual Gryfindor/Slytherin rivalry." He took a breath, unsure what to say.

"He was my brother."

"Was?"

"I disowned them when I moved out." She made an 'oh' sort of nose and finally stopped her intense scrutiny of his face and looked out at the sun over the shimmering sea.

"That's why you two seem so alike." There was a pause – Sirius disagreed with this but he didn't know what to say. "Why did you move out? If, you know, you don't -" he waved away her fluffing apology.

"They hated me because I was different." Sirius meant to stop there, but found that words rushed to spill out of his mouth. He had to tell _somebody_. "Because I didn't hate Muggle-borns or support Voldemort. Because I was put in Gryfindor." He found his voice rising and fought to keep it down. "I don't think I'm like them at all. I hate them – the way they think they're better than everyone else and walk around with their noses in the air as if people they disapprove of are dirt on their shoes. The way they pick on people that can't defend themselves. I got sick of being the lamb under the lion's paw. So I moved out."

As he said these last few sentences, Sirius suddenly saw, in his mind, him and James standing over Snivellus Snape, sneering cruelly as Wormtail cowered in the background. He felt sick.

It was a while before either of them spoke. "You _are_ like them, you know." Although her voice was soft, it still intruded on the silence like the peal of a gong. He looked at her. "You think you're better than them because you're different, and that's what makes you the same."

For many long minutes, the two of them sat staring out across the sea. Then, in a climactic movement, the darkening, distant sun hit the furthest edge of the ocean. Sirius swore he could almost hear the non-existent impact echo across the beach. Laura sighed and settled her back against his chest. "You're not all bad, though." He looked down at the top of her head, feeling warmth rise in his chest.

"Is this a dream?" he asked.

"Why should it be a dream?" she replied, and Sirius almost detected a note of irritation in her voice. Warily, he tried to continue as if he didn't notice.

"Well, it's either a dream or a miracle," he said.

"Why do people find it so hard to believe in miracles?" she said, sitting up and looking at him. "Especially wizards."

"Maybe it's because the things that Muggles term 'miracles' are commonplace for us," Sirius tried.

"Some of the best miracles are commonplace," she said softly, sighing and turning her face to the sea. "Look at this." Sirius sat up to follow her gaze. The sun was half-submerged in the dark water, the few clouds scattered through the sky a perfect orange, contrasting strongly with the cobalt sky. He couldn't help but smile. "Before I came here, this was my magic. This happens every day, and it's never the same." The expression on her face was pure joy. "This is a miracle, don't you think?" Shaking his head in wonder, Sirius murmured his assent and lay down. She followed. "Miracles happen everyday, and we're too busy to see them. Too busy being scared of spiders to notice how amazing their webs are. Too busy rushing off to work to make the world a better place to notice just how beautiful it really is without us." Sirius shifted his hand slightly until it touched hers in the sand.

"I can appreciate that," he said quietly, rolling over so he was facing her. "And I'm not afraid of spiders," he added jokingly. She rolled to face him as well, propping her head on her hand again. She smiled softly.

"Good," she almost whispered. Sirius gently leaned forward, moving his face closer to hers. Her deep brown eyes flickered down to his lips and back to his eyes. He suppressed a shiver as a thrill ran through him, took a breath...

"Laura?" The voice from outside their bubble broke in with all the delicacy of a filing cabinet; she jerked away from him and looked up at the speaker.

"Regulus!" she cried, jumping to her feet. Sirius scrambled upright. His brother's stare was outraged, mistrustful. It was the stare Regulus gave him all the time, but now it was so much worse because Sirius really cared about the thing his renounced elder sibling had just snatched away from him. The darker of the two broke the gaze and turned to Laura.

"I came looking for you," he said softly, reaching out and drawing her close. "What were you doing with him?" He said 'him' as if Sirius was a piece of filth, but he was used to that too. She accepted the embrace, looking awkward.

"He's my friend, Reg. We were just talking." Regulus turned his eyes back to his brother.

"I don't trust him."

"Well, I don't feel anything like _brotherly_ love for you, either," Sirius snapped back. Laura sighed heavily, her head bowed.

"Sorry, Sirius," she said sadly. "Come on, Reg, let's go back to the camp." And she led him away, his gaze lingering until she pulled it away for a tender kiss. Scowling, Sirius turned away and shuffled over to sit with the other Gryfindors.

* * *

Early the next morning, Sirius woke up. The sun was already blaring down on him, and as he rolled over, sand sticking to his Muggle shirt, he saw that James, Moony, and a few of the Slytherins were also sleeping around the burnt-out fire. He sat up slowly and gave James a thump in the stomach with the back of his hand.

James coughed, snorted, and then jumped to his feet in a sudden movement that almost sent Sirius sprawling. "I'm up!" he cried, waking most of the others around the fire. He looked down at Sirius, who stood up coolly and hauled Moony to his feet.

"Race you to the water," he said. The other two exchanged hesitant glances, then, without warning, took off in a sprint. Sirius cursed and then shot after them laughing as some of the groggy Slytherins began to get to their feet.

The water was frigidly cold, but it woke Sirius up with a shock as he waded in up to his knees, just behind James and ahead of Moony. He whooped with a joy that struck him suddenly, a joy in living, in being here, in being alive. He splashed James in the face, laughing aloud at the way he spluttered and coughed. James splashed him back and he still couldn't stop laughing until Moony reached them and plunged straight into Sirius' back, sending him coughing into the brine. After he came up, he pushed Moony back in and laughed again.

A cold voice spoke in his ear. "In a good mood today, are we?" Sirius spun round, his 'good mood' evaporating faster than the water off his skin under the hot morning sun. Regulus stood behind him, looking like he used to in the summers when the two of them shared a house. Like he was trying to pick a fight – and that look screamed to Sirius to run away. "What did Laura say to you last night?" he said threateningly. Sirius frowned.

"Nothing I'd share with you," he replied, and tried to edge past him. It should have been easy owing to Regulus's Seeker's build; light and athletic, but he reached out and caught the collar of Sirius' wet shirt. "You keep your hands off my girl, you little rat," he whispered.

"Like I was going to touch her anyway," he retorted, pushing at the older boy. Regulus, caught off balance, slipped and fell backwards into the foamy water. Sirius snorted and waded back into shore to join Moony and James, both of whom had scarpered at the first hint of trouble but were now snorting with laughter. They patted him on the back and the three of them rushed into the Snitch, all the way up the stairs (making Narcissa screech as they passed the second floor) and waking up Frank as they reached the top and began to strip off their wet Muggle clothes and don their school robes. Noisily.

"Will you boys please shut up?" came Lily Evans' voice from the level below. James immediately stopped trying to slap Sirius with his wet shirt.

"Sorry, Evans," he said, his voice deepening as he spoke. "Good morning." She only grunted back, which made his face crumple a little. "Ouch," he said, quieter so that only the four Gryfindor boys could hear. "My self-esteem."

"Yeah," said Sirius ruminatively. "I'd have low self-esteem too if my nose was that big." James threw his top at Sirius, who dodged. Moony let out a bark of laughter, causing Sirius to pick up the shirt and throw it at Moony. "Honestly, though, mate," Sirius continued, fighting the laughter out of his voice, "Any bigger and we'll have to call you Snivellus." James laughed half-heartedly and pulled his robes over his head. Moony gave Sirius a look before shimmying his own threadbare robe on.

"And then you'll have to wear bloomers," chipped in Frank, fully dressed. "Shall we go down?"

"Race you," said Moony casually.

"Are you sure?" asked Sirius in mock-surprise. "Seeing as you're so good at losing?"

James looked from one to the other. "I'm in!" he yelled suddenly and took off. Sirius hotfooted it down the spiral staircase after him ("Hi Evans, Bye Evans" yelled James as they passed their floor) and tripped spectacularly on the second-to-bottom stair and landed sprawled on top of James. Moony, going too fast to stop, tripped over their tangled legs and fell too. Frank expertly skirted the pile.

"Good morning, Mr. Black, Mr. Potter, Mr. Lupin," Dumbledore's silvery voice came from one of the straight-backed chairs around a large and laden table.

"Food!" said James eagerly, trying to shove the other two off him and failing. Out of the corner of his eye, Sirius saw Laura step carefully between Moony's outstretched legs. She caught Sirius' eye and smiled. Moony carefully extracted himself from their heap, leaving Sirius free to jump up energetically. James made a big show of being hurt as he shuddered to his feet, but Sirius could tell that he wasn't.

"Miss Allbright," Dumbledore continued serenely, "Could you go and rouse the other ladies in our party, please. We are about to depart and it would be best if they have breakfast first. Mr Snape," he continued, making Sirius jump; he hadn't seen Snivellus there, hunched in an armchair with his hooked nose buried in his copy of _Advanced Potion Making_. Snivellus jumped too at the mention of his name, the book falling from his hands with a _thud_. "Could you do the same with the rest of the boys please." The two left the room, Snivellus shooting Laura a mistrustful glare as she attempted to engage him in conversation.

After a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs that seemed to come from nowhere, ("But they _can't_," complained a confused Moony, "Food is one of the exceptions to Gamp's law of Elemental Transfiguration!" The others rolled their eyes.) the Snitch rose into the air again, cloaked by Dumbledore's Disillusionment Charm, which only lifted when they became lost in the glare of the sun. There were no clouds in the azure sky. Sirius had come to think that the French were allergic to clouds, because there were never any to be seen. He was growing more and more restless, less content to just sit there with James and mock Snivellus, less content to ignore Moony's looks shot from the other side of the room.

Then there was a bump. "Goodness me," said Dumbledore softly. "This thing does travel fast, doesn't it?"

It took another moment for Sirius to realise what Dumbledore had meant. They had arrived.

* * *

"All right, students, please make sure your uniform is immaculate – Mr. Longbottom, that won't do at all! Miss Allbright, would you straighten him up, please? Thank you," Professor Dumbledore said, sounding slightly nervous. "I trust I don't have to tell you to be on your best behavior for the duration of our stay at Beauxbatons." He placed his palm gently on the side of the gleaming Snitch, which gave way beneath his long fingers. He and the twelve students stepped out into the heavy sunlight.

Sirius had never seen anything so beautiful in his life. It was like a fairy garden from Muggle storybooks Moony had shown him. The air was light, the garden they stood in littered with glittering fountains and exquisite statues. The whole place was made more magical by a light mist that seemed to hang over it all. It seemed like a place where students could lose themselves and their troubles.

"Isn't it beautiful?" breathed Laura from beside Sirius. Frank appeared on her other side, his askew collar fixed and his hair smoothed.

"Eet ees, no?"

The voice came from the mist in front of them, deep and throaty yet still feminine. The body that followed it was even more beautiful than the garden; a woman with olive skin, blond hair and piercing blue eyes that rivaled Dumbledore's.

"Madame Mayet," Dumbledore said smoothly, walking towards him and extending his hand. As she drew closer, Sirius saw that she was a tall, curvy woman, wearing a loose, floaty dress. Behind her, a huge group of pupils emerged from the mist. She smiled at him.

"Dumbledore," she pronounced. It came from her mouth slightly distorted due to her thick French accent. "My pupils," she said lightly, waving a hand. The few hundred girls and boys, also clad in loose, floaty robes, bowed and curtseyed. They seemed like a strictly raised bunch, Sirius observed.

After a little bit of conversation between the head teachers, a rumbling sound became audible through the delicate garden. Minutes later, an enormous ship emerged from a space behind the biggest of the fountains, which seemed to have several birds bursting out of a cage embedded in the steady stream of crystalline water. "How original," said Dumbledore dryly, in a voice that clearly said that the opposite was true.

"Yes, the Durmstrang people are set in tradition," remarked Madame Mayet exotically. "No doubt they will arrive the same way next time." Dumbledore smiled as people wearing thick robes poured out of he dark ship. Their headmaster was a small man with big presence.

"Dumbledore! Mayet!" he said, his deep voice booming around the airy garden. Mayet smiled and graciously extended a hand to the man. Then, beaming, she turned and clapped her hands. At the sound, the hundreds of students began to file in an unnaturally orderly way towards the palace. Sirius found that there was no other word to describe the building; it was more delicate than a castle, and seemed like a fairy queen's dwelling. He, James, Moony and Frank exchanged glances before following them.

Inside, the palace was even more exquisite than outside. Glittering statues stood in corners and as centerpieces to the spacious rooms. Sirius found that his breath was taken away - everything was so delicate, so _royal_, as though every student was a prince or princess.

As they sat down in a huge hall littered with tables, draped with lacy white tablecloths and vases of flowers, (Sirius heard some of the Durmstrang students make noises of disgust) Madame Mayet stood in the center of the room, like the most beautiful statue of them all. Sirius noticed that the Beauxbatons students had not sat down, but where instead standing with their eyes riveted on their Headmistress. Each of the tables seated around twenty students, but the slightly higher, fancier-dressed table in the middle was larger and already had what must have been all of the Beauxbatons teachers sitting around it. Unlike Hogwarts, amazing, mouth-watering smells were already wafting from benches around the room that were already laden with food.

Madame Mayet sat down. as one, the hundreds of students filed out to the benches around the side. Two girls, one tall and breathtakingly beautiful, the other smaller and delicately pretty, approached the table where Sirius and the other Hogwarts students sat.

"_Bonjour,_" said the tall one smoothly. The Hogwarts people looked at each other edgily.

"_Bonjour,_" replied Laura cheerfully. Sirius looked at her in surprise. "_Je m'appelle Laura._" The girl looked down at her.

"Victiore Eris," she said, her voice strangely cold. _She's trouble, that one,_ Sirius caught himself thinking.

"I didn't know you spoke French," Sirius told Laura.

"I can't really," she replied calmly. "Just the basics." The smaller girl smiled, genuinely, and her voice was as delicate as her face when she spoke.

"I'm Echo," she said in flawless English. "Welcome to Beauxbatons Academy. Follow us, the food is over here." She smiled, and Sirius thought jealously that her smile was directed mostly at Regulus. Then the two girls turned and walked away, and, hesitantly at first, the Hogwartians followed.

James and Moony rushed ahead, but Sirius took his time and found himself standing next to Andromeda in the queue. She smiled at him, her almond eyes softening. "Sirius," she said seriously. He murmured something that could serve as a greeting. "Your... your friend Remus," she began shyly, "Is he seeing anyone?" Sirius's eyes widened in surprise.

"Moony? Are you kidding? He's in love with his study, girls don't stand a chance." Andy's haughty-looking face fell. "I... I reckon you could, you know, win him over if you tried, though, Andy," he corrected hastily.

"You think so?" she asked, her eyes shining. "Thanks, Sirius," she said and gave him a warm hug. He grinned at her. "Good luck," he called at her retreating back.

The food, although many dishes were ones Sirius had never even heard of before, was excellent. Victoire Eris and Echo, the two girls, sat with them and Echo kept up a reasonably good conversation. When Laura asked her how long she had been speaking English, however, she looked confused. "I... had to learn so I could speak with you," she said haltingly. She was spared the trouble of speaking further by Madame Mayet standing up at the table in the center. Immediately, all the Beauxbatons students leaped to their feet, but she waved them back down and began to speak.

Sirius couldn't understand a word she was saying. It was all in rapid French. "Um, she says, welcome to our international students, and, um... no, she's lost me," said Laura. Regulus took her hand, opposite to the Marauders at the circular table. Echo took over the translation.

"She is just introducing our teachers to you that will be judging the competition," she said. "And she is about to show us the... impartial, I think the word is, selector of the champions for the Tournament." Sirius looked excitedly up at the tall woman. This was his chance to show them all, in front of Regulus and Narcissa, that he was better than just a Black gone wrong. This was his chance to win Laura from Regulus.

"She is saying that the selector is called... the Goblet of Fire," said Echo, surprised.

"That doesn't sound like a person," James murmured.

"Of course it's not a person," Moony shot back. "A person can be biased, can't they? Are you saying you didn't read anything into the Tournament before you came?" The other two shook their heads.

Two boys in the blue Beauxbatons robes rushed into the hall, carrying between them a heavy-looking casket. "That's it," Frank breathed beside Sirius. "The Goblet of Fire."

* * *

The brazen cup hissed and spat as blue flames danced over the rim. Sirius swallowed. He could feel heat emanating from the bronze Goblet, even though he stood at least three feet away from it.

It was his turn. He clutched the tiny scrap of parchment in his sweaty hand. _Sirius Black, Hogwarts. _He took a deep breath, fighting back fear. What if the Goblet just spat his name back out? He could see Dumbledore's disappointed face already, see Regulus's mocking sneer...

He steeled himself, took a step forwards and dropped the parchment into the flames. There was a slight roaring sound as the dancing tongues of fire licked higher, turned mauve, then red - then settled down again to become their usual turquoise. He'd done it.

Sirius let out his breath, hardly noticing he'd been holding it in, then stepped back to where the rest of the Hogwartians stood. James patted him on the back and Dumbledore smiled. Echo, who was still standing with them, said "Well done," softly.

"Are you going to put your name in?" Regulus asked her as he stepped closer to the fiery Goblet. She shook her head sadly.

"I cannot be with you and enter," she said. "I would much rather make friends among you than enemies, due to harsh competition." Sirius snorted and caught Laura's eye. She smiled at him. She had volunteered to put her name in first, showing the bright enthusiasm that she seemed to give all matters in life. Sirius found that entrancing, more so than anyone he'd ever met before. Flames briefly obscured her face as Regulus's name was accepted into the Goblet. Sirius turned away.

"Remus?" It was Andromeda's voice, timid, nervous. He turned to look at her in surprise.

"Andromeda?'

"Andy, please." Remus looked blown away with the attention she was giving him as she edged nearer.

"Andy, then." A smile twitched the corners of his thin lips as they began to chat. Sirius and James exchanged glances and left them alone.

"Moony and Andy?' said James incredulously.

"She seems really keen on him," Sirius remarked. "It'll be good for him, you know, get his mind off all the schoolwork he's missing." James snorted. Sirius looked back to see that Echo was talking animatedly to Regulus as Laura stared after him, twiddling a strand of hair absently. He felt happier.

* * *

Days flew by in quick succession. Echo and Victoire Eris gave them a tour of the school on their second day. Sirius noticed that Victoire gave James a lot of attention, while Echo seemed to enjoy spending time with Regulus the most out of all of them. It was the evening of their third day when Madame Mayet announced that the Goblet was ready to make its decision. Sirius and James sat up in their seats, Victoire on James' other side flicking her blonde hair seductively out of her face. Sirius pretended not to see Lily Evans scowling at the French girl. Mayet was speaking French again, and Echo was frantically trying to translate her rapid speech. Suddenly the Goblet on the table flared red, the flames shooting to a great height. Mayet ducked a little, and caught the charred scrap of paper in an olive-skinned hand. She smiled as she read the name.

"The French champion is..." translated Echo in a hushed voice. "Phillipe Yvain!" a tall, well-muscled boy stood up from one of the tables near the center of the room. He was handsome, with loosely curled sandy hair, a straight nose and vivid blue eyes. he looked like quite the hero, and judging by the number of people cheering him on from all around the room, he was the school favorite. He made his way up to the table where Mayet stood regally, smiling down at him like a mother to her favorite son.

The Goblet spluttered and flared again, and Mayet caught the parchment, burnt around the edges, and read it out again. When she spoke this time, it was not in French, but in some guttural tone. The Hogwartians all looked at Echo expectantly. "I don't know," she said apologetically. "I do not speak that language."

"The Durmstrang champion, isn't it obvious?" said Lily quickly, in time to hear Mayet speak the name of the champion.

"Lochlin Raiden!"

"My goodness, he looks angry, doesn't he?" remarked Echo as the boy stood up. Indeed, Sirius saw, his thick eyebrows were contracted in a frown across his harsh, angular face. He didn't look like someone to mess with.

The Goblet flared once more and the most charred parchment yet coughed up from its depths. Mayet caught it expertly. Sirius, James and Remus shared excited glances.

"And the Hogwarts champion," she said in her deep, throaty voice. Sirius's stomach twisted obscurely. He glanced across at Laura, and saw that the hand she held clenched in Regulus's was white-knuckled. "is Mister -" her voice was cut off by an enormous _crash_ as someone on the other side of the hall knocked a vase off a table, and all the Marauders heard was the end of the sentence: "-Black."

Triumph surged through Sirius's body. Sure it was him, he stood, but Regulus had stood also, and the two brothers stood facing each other across the wide table, scowling and snarling like tigers over a piece of meat.


	5. The Task!

Mayet looked around the hall expectantly. "Sirius? Sirius Black?"

Triumph and relief surged through Sirius' veins. He'd done it! He'd beaten Regulus. He kicked his chair out of the way, grinned down at the rest of the Marauders, and made his way up to the staff table.

Looking disgruntled, Regulus slowly sat down and, at a look from Laura, began a round of reluctant applause. The Gryfindors and Andy (who was sitting next to Moony) screamed and cheered him on.

It felt like his nerves were on fire. Adrenalin coursed through him like wildfire at the thought of the tasks to come; he would show them. All of them. Especially Laura.

Dumbledore smiled down at him as he shook hands with Yvain and the sullen-faced Raiden. Looking back, Sirius saw that Moony looked slightly relieved at not being chosen, and felt slightly guilty for pressuring him into the trip in the first place. James' head was bowed, but Sirius thought he knew the disappointment he was feeling; it was his best chance of impressing Lily Evans. The French girl, Eris, laid a hand comfortingly on James' arm.

Mayet surveyed her students with a satisfied smile. A few words of liquid French spilled from her mouth, and her students rose as one from their tables and left the hall.

Yvain turned to Sirius, a friendly smile on his handsome face. "Hello," he said haltingly. Sirius employed the only French word he knew in response.

"_Bonjour_." Yvain grinned.

"I know... little English," he replied ashamedly, giving his broad shoulders a little shrug.

"I don't know any French," Sirius admitted slowly. Yvain looked puzzled for a while, then he laughed as he realised what Sirius had said.

"That is all right," he said cheerfully. "What we cannot say may make us more good friends than what we can." He spoke hesitantly and with a strong accent, but Sirius grinned and nodded. There was something likeable about Yvain, besides the fact that his whole school was still clapping and letting out the odd wolf-whistle or whoop for him. _Obviously something of a hero_, Sirius thought.

Mayet sat down. The other teachers left, leaving only Dumbledore, the Durmstrang Headmaster and two others at the table. Mayet waved an olive hand at them to sit down. She began talking softly and Dumbledore picked up the translation as beside him, the rotund Durmstrang Headmaster did the same.

"Congratulations on becoming school champion. The first task will test you on your bravery in the face of the unknown, your patience in attempting difficult endeavors, and your ability to work constructively with those you would call your enemies. Therefore, we will not tell you what you will face in the First Task, only that you will not need any immensely complex or specific charms or hexes. You will be equipped only with your wand in this task." Dumbledore looked up expectantly at Mayet, who had stopped her fluid speech. She dipped her regal head at him.

"All right, then, Sirius?" Dumbledore asked. Sirius nodded, smiling. It sounded like a bit of a pushover. But he supposed there must be a catch. "Excellent. Then we can retire. It's been a busy day..."

And the two of them stood and left the hall, Sirius throwing a grin back at Yvain as he reached the door.

He entered the Snitch to sullen silence. The Slytherins littered around the room looked away from him. Laura glanced up and smiled warmly; she struggled to free her hands from Regulus's but gave up. Lily Evans said a soft "congratulations" into the silence as he passed, approaching Moony and Andy, who were sitting cross-legged on the floor together, so involved in each other that they hadn't even noticed Sirius's entrance.

_So much for I'll show them,_ Sirius thought bitterly. _Most of them don't even realise I'm here._ He reached Andy's feet and cleared his throat.

Moony jumped. "Hey, Padfoot," he said, his grey eyes widening. "Hey – congratulations! I'm really happy for you! And," he looked slightly sheepish, "-rather you than me." Sirius's gut twinged with guilt again.

"Yeah, mate, sorry for pushing you into this, you know," he said awkwardly. Andromeda chuckled.

"Hey, did I just hear a Black apologize?" she asked incredulously "I thought it was impossible!" The two cousins looked around at Regulus and Narcissa, but if the Slytherins had heard, they didn't show it.

"Yeah, 'cause I'm your average Black," Sirius retorted sarcastically. She smiled sadly.

"Sorry," she said. They both grinned at the joke.

"James is upstairs," said Moony. "He's a bit... disappointed. I think he really wanted to be chosen."

Sirius glanced up the spiral staircase. As he watched, Frank emerged from the bathroom and let out a loud cheer as he saw him. "Sirius! Hey, well done, mate! School champion!" Sirius looked around.

"Yeah," he said half-heartedly. "I don't seem to be the school favorite, though." Frank, too, looked around the silent Snitch.

"Nah, they're just disappointed," he said dismissively. "It'll pass." He sat down next to the other two. Moony turned back to Sirius.

"I don't know that talking to him would be the best idea," he said softly.

"I think leaving him to stew would be even worse," Sirius replied bracingly, and bounded to his feet and up the stairs.

James was sitting in a foetal position on the bed, a piece of neat parchment resting in his trembling hands. He looked up briefly as Sirius' head poked up the staircase, his eyes darting like startled flies before settling again on his knees. Other than that, he gave no indication that he had noticed his best friend enter the room.

"Prongs, mate?" Sirius began tentatively. James looked up again and gave him a very forced smile. "Come on, I know you're disappointed, but..." James attempted a careless shrug, failed and looked away. Something inside Sirius snapped.

"Sweet Merlin, Prongs! Don't give me the cold shoulder! It's not like it's my fault! Not like the time I scribbled all over your note to Lily Evans and she didn't want to go out with you, or the time I swapped your hair gel for Sleakeasy Solution and all the girls laughed at you..." James' head snapped up again, his eyes outraged. Sirius lost momentum a bit. "Which... you obviously didn't know was me... This isn't like that! I didn't bribe the Goblet like the time I told Professor Slughorn I'd be good in his classes for a week if he chose you for the demonstration of Shrinking Solution..."

Sirius stopped talking abruptly at the look on James' face. "I know," James said weakly after a while. "But I'm having enough trouble battling my jealousy of you without seeing you all the time. I think... I think it'd be best if you just left me alone for a bit, mate. Please." Sirius bowed his head.

"Sorry," he said. As he stood up to leave, James shifted the parchment in his hands. Sirius didn't mean to read it, but the momentary glance he gave it was enough to read the name signed with a flourish at the bottom: _Victoire Eris_.

"James," he said softly, "That Victoire's trouble. You'd be best to stay away from her."

"Oh, yeah?" James raised his head to frown incredulously at Sirius. "Why's that?"

"Well, what about Lily Evans?"

"What about her?" snapped James. "She'll never love me the way I love her. I might as well move on." Sirius shook his head exasperatedly.

"I think you should -" he began, but James cut him off; he stood up, his hands balled into fists.

"Oh, YOU THINK I SHOULD!" he yelled at the top of his voice. There was a soft "Muffliato" from downstairs, but Sirius, blown away by his best friend's reaction to his advice, didn't hear it. "You think I should what, stay away from her so that it hurts less when she goes off with you, like all the other girls who've ever been interested in me?" Sirius raised his eyebrows, shocked. "All you ever had to do was walk up to them, waggle your eyebrows a bit, say "hey, I'm Sirius" with that _look_" he spat, "in your eyes, and they'd walk off with you without a backwards glance at me! Now that you're _school champion,_ maybe you can show the rest of the world what you secretly think to yourself: that you're so much better than me!" James paused for breath, tears seeping from his hazel eyes, as Sirius sank down on his bed, arms raised against the verbal barrage.

"I was only trying to help -" he began weakly, but it was no use.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot," said James, his voice rising again. "Just because that stupid Goblet picked you over me means that you must know better about everything. What do you know about love? You have a new girlfriend every week, you never _care_ about any of them!" Tears sprang into Sirius' eyes. "You think you're so much better than me, _Sirius Black_," James spat the words out with so much venom that Sirius was just about knocked over. "But you're just like them."

There was a long silence. Sirius sat on the bed, stunned. He knew that most of what his friend – his _best friend_ – had just said wasn't fair. But there were grains of truth in James's words that hurt more than the lies.

"You need to open your eyes, Potter," he said coldly. "Then you'll see how wrong you are. What you're missing."

Tears were streaming down James' flushed face. "Like what?" he said quietly, his voice hoarse from his fit of yelling.

"I've seen the way that girl looks at you," Sirius went on, hardly daring to look at the other boy. "She doesn't fancy you, not as anything other than a way to get at what she really loves." James' head snapped up. "Making trouble," Sirius clarified. "Making people argue." He shook his head.

"But Evans," he said, his voice strengthening, "She cares about you! And I'm sorry if I'm pushing my opinion on you again," he added bitterly, "but you can't give up now, James. Especially not for some French girl you've only known for a week."

James sniffed and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. Slowly, he got up and walked over to Sirius, who flinched, afraid he might be hit. There was a pause.

"Sorry," James said sadly. "It just... seemed like being champion was the only way I could get her to like me. I'm not like you, no matter how much I wish I was. And... I would give anything for her to like me!" He turned to Sirius, an anguished look blazing in his expressive eyes. "Am I really that bad?"

Sirius grinned at him. "You really want me to answer that?" James laughed and pushed Sirius clumsily. "Seriously, though, mate," he said, unable to keep the grin off his face. "That nose is a problem." James laughed again. The hollow, shocked feeling left Sirius' stomach.

"You were right, though," Sirius remarked thoughtfully.

"About what?" asked James, surprised.

"Me and girls. I just see a chick, think she's hot, ask her out... get sick of her and dump her."

"Then find another one," James added teasingly.

"Yes," Sirius replied. "Then find another one." He sighed. It felt good to tell James this. Suddenly keeping it to himself seemed like something to be ashamed of. After all, the two of them had no other secrets.

"To tell the truth, mate, I'm really jealous of you." James looked up. "To find something you really _love_... You get so happy every time she even says your name." He sighed. "All the girls say "I love you", but I've never wanted to say _I love you too_."

James looked blankly into space. Then he snorted with sudden laughter. "I love you, man," he said, laughing. Sirius smiled at him, unable to shake off the solemn feeling he had. He thought of Laura. Did he love her?

Lily Evans entered the room, interrupting the two boys' thoughts. "Are you okay?" she asked concernedly. Sirius nodded.

"Yeah, we're all right, thanks, Evans," said James. Lily threw him a disgusted look that melted when she saw the narrow paths of tears across his face.

"Lily," she said, coming to sit beside him. "It's Lily."

Sirius stood up, feeling that he'd best leave the two of them alone. "I need the bathroom," he lied, stretching theatrically. He left the room and went back down the stairs to Moony.

"How is he?" asked the werewolf kindly.

"He's fine," Sirius replied, grinning. "He's with Evans." Moony's wolfish face split into a smile. Andromeda looked eagerly between them.

"What?" she asked. Sirius sat down.

"Only the girl he's had a crush on, like, forever!" He informed her. She smiled. Her hand accidentally nudged Moony's knee and the two of them jumped away from the contact, then relaxed, laughing awkwardly. Sirius thought how sweet they looked together. Moony recovered himself.

"Did they tell you what the first task is?" he asked urgently.

"Nope," Sirius replied. "It's supposed to test "bravery in the face of the unknown," or something."

"Well, do you think we should practice some basic charms and hexes, then?" Sirius rolled his eyes; this was so typical of Moony.

"No," he said, but Moony had already reached into Sirius's pocket and placed his wand in his hand. Grudgingly, amid Andromeda's giggles, Sirius complied.

* * *

On the morning of the task, Sirius awoke sweating from a nightmare he had been having more and more frequently: that to compete in the First Task he'd had to duel Regulus, with Laura in the background, her eyes wild as she cheered on his opponent with a face like a raging bull.

It took a few moments for Sirius to remember what day it was. He knew it was Tuesday, and then his bleary brain worked out that Tuesday was an important day: the day of the Task.

Waves of panic and nausea fought for control of his body. Slowly, fighting the compulsive shivers trying to rack his frame, he got up and dressed in his robes. It was still dark, but Sirius knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep. He went downstairs to the bottom floor, not sure if he wanted to go outside, or just sit down there.

"Good morning, Sunshine." Sirius jumped, his hand clutching at his heart. Laura, sitting curled up in a beanbag by the door, laughed. Heart racing, breathing heavily, Sirius joined in.

"Morning," he said. "Nice way to wake up. The last thing I needed this morning was a fright like that." She grinned apologetically.

"Sorry. I couldn't sleep so I came down here. I was going to go for a walk in a minute." Sirius smiled happily.

"Join me?" he asked. She stood up. Sirius observed that she was wearing Muggle clothes. They left together.

It was a while before either of them spoke. Then Laura burst out, "Sirius? Can I ask you something?" The French sun was rising over the misty garden, throwing pink light over the fountains, and the looming statues cast slanting shadows over their passing faces. They moved slowly, peaceably through the picturesque gardens, and at that moment Sirius felt that he would have told her anything.

"Of course."

She stopped in her strolling, turning to face him with her delicate face serious. "The four of you," she said confrontationally. "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. I get Moony, but what about you others?" Sirius frowned.

"You get Moony?"

"Werewolf. Full moon. Moony. It makes sense."

"Oh." Sirius wondered how obvious Moony's affliction really was. "Well..." _Reckless_, a voice in his head – Moony's voice – whispered. He ignored it. "We're Animagi." He started walking again, as if moving on physically would help to move the conversation on to a less personal matter. He wasn't sure if he was pleased or disappointed when Laura stayed beside him, not disturbed in the least.

"I thought that might be it," she pondered. "I can just see you as a big, black, shaggy dog." That frightened Sirius a bit. He stopped.

"How did you -" he gasped, his mouth flopping like a goldfish's.

She looked back at him from where she stood, several paces ahead of him. "It figures," she said ruminatively. "Padfoot. That's got to mean dog, right? And," she smiled as she looked him up and down. "Anyone can see you're not a Chihuahua." She turned around and kept walking. Sirius closed his mouth and struggled to keep up with her. They turned a corner on the narrow gravel path.

"Oh, look," gasped Laura in awe.

The biggest fountain of all stood sparkling in the dawn, sending brilliant tendrils of water flowing like a beaded curtain over a bench placed underneath it. Laura, ahead of him, laughed in delight and wonder, and ran to sit on the bench. She smiled at him.

"Isn't this place beautiful?" He couldn't deny it, so he just nodded slowly and went to sit next to her. There was a comfortable pause as the two of them recognized that there was no need to talk. Sirius looked at her briefly, taking in her sharp, delicate nose and deep brown eyes, the way her hair fell over her face -

"Do you think we can be friends?" she asked suddenly, looking up at him. He frowned – had he taken it for granted that they were already friends?

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean... with Regulus." she sounded almost ashamed, and looked away quickly. "When he's around you, I see a side of him I never see with anyone else," she explained. He looked away too. "When you're not there, he's sweet, and loving, and funny..." she paused, her face pained. Sirius refrained from snorting incredulously. "Then he sees you and he turns into this angry, possessive... _animal._"

Sirius wanted to believe what she was telling him, but all he had ever seen of his former brother was angry, haughty, contempt-driven, mocking... the list of adjectives was endless! All he had ever seen of Regulus was something that only a mother could love. Laura sighed.

"I _love_ Regulus," she said fiercely. "But... I want to be friends with you guys too. Especially now – Lily told me she'll be spending a lot of time around James after last night." She giggled, and Sirius joined her, with a more manly chuckle. After their laughter subsided, Laura turned serious again.

"Are you nervous?" Sirius' stomach clenched. She was talking about the task.

"I should do the manly thing and say, of course not..."

"...but really, you're terrified and you're manly enough to know that I can tell? Yeah, I can understand that." He grinned. "You'll be okay," she told him bracingly. "Dumbledore wouldn't make it anything too dangerous." He tried to take comfort from her words.

"Yeah," he said. He looked up; the sun had begun to peek shyly from the top of the distant trees. "Hey, we should go in," he said.

"Or Regulus will wake up," she added, rolling her eyes. They rose from the bench and walked back to the shining Snitch in the light of the rising sun.

"Drink?" asked Yvain. Sirius took the proffered glass, clutching it until his knuckles were white so that the French champion couldn't see how much he shook. He smiled weakly. Yvain grinned back. "Nervous?" he asked, after a period of thought.

"Very," Sirius replied. He felt envy rise like bile in his throat – the older boy didn't seem the least bit perturbed at what was to come. Raiden had stomped into the makeshift tent ten minutes after the two others, just as sullen as ever. "You?"

"_Oui!_" the boy replied at once, earnestly. Sirius frowned at the unfamiliar word. "Sorry. Yes! I am very nervous. I just do not show it the same as you." As Sirius nodded, Echo entered the pale canvas tent, talking in French to a boy with pale skin and black hair and eyes. A tall, slim, female teacher entered behind them.

Echo smiled at Sirius. "I am here to translate for you," she said. "The task is about to start. Are you nervous?" Sirius nodded queasily. The boy brought Raiden over to where the others were grouped, the one smiling, the other not.

"Je m'appele Hanish," he told them, pointing at himself and smiling. The teacher, too, began talking, facing Yvain particularly. Echo began fluently translating, her green eyes darting from between Sirius and the red-haired teacher.

Replacing the empty glass on the floor, Sirius crossed his arms to stop Echo from seeing them tremble. Next to him, he saw that Yvain's feet were constantly tapping on the canvas floor.

"...your task is to capture – not hurt, but capture – the Demiguise." Echo finished. The teacher produced from her navy robes a glass crystal ball. "It's a Portkey," Echo explained. "You must lay a finger on it and it will take you to the Task. This is where I leave you. Good luck!"

Sirius touched a finger to the ball. The tent grew fuzzy around the edges, swirled and faded, leaving the three champions alone in the darkness with only their thoughts for company.

* * *

Noise closed in on Sirius' ears, echoing in them with the air of a man trapped in the bottom of a well. Slowly, tentatively, he opened his eyes.

Rocky walls loomed above him. Sirius took his finger off the glass ball as the others did and it fell to the harsh, rocky floor and shattered. The noise was painfully loud, causing Sirius to cringe. He looked around.

They were in a sort of ravine. It looked so much like the films he had watched at Moony's house that he half expected a scaly dinosaur to leap out from over the top of the vertical cliffs. He could almost hear the throbbing music building in the background. _Your task is to capture the Demiguise._ He thought back to his Care of Magical Creatures lessons last year, but all he could remember was Professor Kettleburn accidentally lighting himself on fire several times in the same lesson, and Eva struggling to sit to him at the low trestle tables. Something told him that a Demiguise wasn't dangerous. There was something else about them, something that made them extremely difficult to capture.

A rock shifted on a high ledge on the cliff face. It teetered there for a second as though nudged by an unseen foot before falling to land with a soft _crack_ on the ravine floor. It was then that Sirius remembered what was special about the Demiguise.

They were invisible.

Sirius glanced at the other two. Raiden scowled at him. Yvain had a teasing smile on his fine-boned face as he gazed up at the ledge.

Another stone shifted, fell. Yvain shot a glance at Sirius and, instinctively, the latter knew what to do. At once, the two boys ran to the side of the cliff and began to climb.

Sirius had no trouble, no fear, until he reached for a jutting piece of rock about seven feet off the ground. It crumbled under his fingertips and he lost his balance, swinging by one hand. He cried out, looking down at the ground, feet below him. _It's not even that high,_ he told himself sternly._ I'm a wizard, for Merlin's sake._ Recovering himself, he looked for Yvain. The French boy was already far above him. Adrenalin shot through Sirius. His competitive streak kicked in, making his arms reach higher. He found the next foothold, and the next. _It's just a game,_ he thought to himself. _Just a game. A game you can win._

He was gaining on the other boy now, the distance between them closing, the ledge growing steadily nearer...

"Come on, Padfoot!"

The voice came from behind them, standing out in the crowd, in the wall of noise that Sirius had been trying to black out since the ravine materialized around him. The entirety of Beauxbatons Academy was seated around the ravine, cheering on their champion. The thought spurred him on, higher, higher up the rocky cliff face, closer and closer to the ledge. Now the two climbers were neck and neck, now Sirius was the space of a hair ahead of Yvain, now the well-built French boy had gained the lead by a Kneazle's whisker...

Reaching the ledge at exactly the same time, the two boys clambered upright, grinning at each other. The space between them gaped, seemed to shudder briefly like a heat haze rising in the midday sun. Yvain gave his wand a flourish above his blond head; a net sprouted from the end like blooming flowers. Clutching it tightly, his sapphire eyes shining, Yvain took a step towards Sirius.

Sirius' heart beat faster. Nervously he ran a hand through his black hair and stepped forwards too. He heard a soft sound, a lowing, like a frightened animal. It was definitely there – they almost had it!

The two took another step closer. Another. The lowing sound repeated, louder this time. Sirius almost laughed. This was too easy.

Yvain snapped the rope in his hands. His blue eyes met Sirius' black ones and his muscled arms reached out, the net flying from his fingers, over the seemingly empty air. Sirius reached out and caught the thin fibres, pulling them down and into the rock of the cliff face, trapping the helpless animal. He watched, triumph seeping calmly through his skin as the net floated softly down to earth.

To his surprise, it met no resistance, sinking lower and lower until every weave of the net touched bare rock. There was nothing there.

"It's gone," Sirius said softly. Yvain shook his head.

"Gone," he repeated wonderingly. His sapphire eyes darted around the ravine. "Where?"

Sirius looked around too. At the bottom of the ravine, Raiden stood, his dark, moody eyes fixed on a point at the base of the cliff. As Sirius watched, he thought he saw a dark shadow gliding across the space where the gap between the cliffs narrowed. He glanced up, but the skies were empty, so he dismissed the shadow as a trick of his buzzing mind.

He looked across at Yvain. The French boy was looking a bit more apprehensive about going down than he had about climbing up the cliff. "We have to get down somehow," Sirius told him confidently. Yvain looked up sharply.

"Yes," he said, nodding decidedly. He grabbed Sirius' hand and jumped, pulling the helpless boy down off the high cliff face behind him.

Sirius' stomach dropped out of his toes as the ground rushed up to meet them he looked at Yvain, who was now beside him. The French boy held his wand high above his head. Sirius closed his eyes and waited for the crushing impact.

It came from above, not below. Yvain's pale wand had erupted with a forget-me-not blue parachute and the two boys floated gently down to earth and landed with a soft bump.

"_Evanesco_," Sirius muttered, and the parachute vanished. The two approached Raiden, who glared at them thunderously. "We need to work together, Raiden," Sirius said slowly. The Durmstrang boy showed no sign of understanding. Yvain pointed at himself, then at Raiden, then at Sirius. He made a gesture that encompassed the three of them and then indicated the judges, who could be seen faintly, five coloured blobs at the top of the towering cliffs. Raiden seemed to get the idea. He nodded grudgingly.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sirius caught another glimpse of the dark shadow, sweeping across the rocky ground towards a shimmering patch of air. He turned around.

The Demiguise shuddered into view, a silvery-haired beast standing on two legs, looking like a dewy-eyed monkey. The shadow slid up its thick legs, over its humped back...

Sirius watched in horror as the shadow wrapped itself tightly around the Demiguise's brittle neck. Its moist eyes bulged, popped as the air was squeezed out of its lungs. Sirius stepped back involuntarily as the brittle Demiguise toppled forwards and the shadow swirled around it, obscuring it from view. Beside him, Sirius heard Yvain whisper a word that froze his blood to ice.

_Lethifold._ That beast that crept into houses as its victims were sleeping, that suffocated them and left silently, leaving no trace of its passage but an empty bed where once there had been a full one. The Lethifold finished with the Demiguise and reared up like a shadow cast of the cliff face. Yvain's hand, still clutching Sirius' wrist, tightened into a death grip.

There was a female scream from above the ravine as someone realised what had gone wrong. Then another, and another, voices ranging from the highest girl's squeal to the lowest man's throaty yell, as the Lethifold lowered its narrow body and began to slide along the ground towards the three immobile champions.

Sirius felt like he was glued to the ground. He couldn't move – had to get his wand out – couldn't move a muscle as the thing gained speed, slithering silently across the ravine floor towards him.

Raiden stepped forward, his wand outstretched. Sirius wrenched his hand from Yvain's grasp, plunging it into his robes for his own wand as the silent, ghostly beast charged the shaking boy.

"_Stupefy!"_ the spell shot from Raiden's wand, straight through the shadowy Lethifold and blasted a small hole in the base of the cliff. Raiden cried out in horror as the beast didn't slow in its advance, and the doomed boy began to shake violently, whimpering helplessly. Sirius could hear Yvain's steady, terrified breathing from beside him.

Suddenly, the French champion darted forwards and cried, _"Expecto Patronum!"_ A shadow of a silvery stallion burst from the end of his pale wand, but it wasn't enough; it trotted shyly up to the advancing Lethifold and was swallowed by its darkness. Yvain tried again, but with the same result, and now the shadow was upon him.

Sirius' limbs seemed to unfreeze as the Lethifold swarmed up the helpless boy's legs, enveloping his robes in darkness, creeping over his mouth, his nose – now Sirius reached out with his wand in his hand as Yvain's gleaming sapphire eyes were engulfed by the body of the Lethifold.

"_Expecto Patronum!"_ memories of James filled his mind, of his hazel eyes laughing, his freckled cheeks flushed, down by the lake in Sirius' favorite place in the world.

A brilliant silver dog erupted from the end of his wand, a fully corporeal Patronus. It bounded happily towards the shadow and the dark Lethifold was thrown backwards. It swooped away from Sirius and he breathed out, tiredness drowning his bones. He saw Yvain's lifeless body, his eyes empty, staring, and he knew that the boy was dead. "Phillipe!" he cried, but it was no good; Yvain's lifeless eyes didn't light up with joy or excitement. He turned, his vision blurring with tears, to see Raiden behind him, wand outstretched, mouth snarling. His wand was pointed at the Lethifold, but somehow Sirius got in the way of the spell that shot from it and pain shot through him, throwing him mercilessly onto the rocky ground.

"Padfoot!" He heard the voice, but could not respond. Raiden's wand was still shooting purple flames at him, a wild look in the boy's eyes. "Padfoot!" _Laura_, he thought peacefully, through the pain, through the haze.

He heard the shouted spell, saw it fly from behind him to hit the sullen-faced boy in the chest. He twisted his head around to see his savior as the blinding pain stopped. Oddly, the last thing he saw before darkness engulfed his murky brain was the concerned face of Regulus looming over him.

**A/N: Just going to break my streak of letting the story talk for itself now to say that Yvain is a character from French mythology. He was something of a hero. "Raiden" was the Japanese god of thunder. Hanish was, I think, a Greek god who warned of stormy weather. Eris is the Greek god of discord. Echo was a nymph from Greek mythology who distracted Hera while Zeus flirted with mortal women. Mayet is the Egyptian goddess of justice. I was clever, no? **

**-for you.**


	6. Au Revoir

_He was five years old, locked in the darkness of his bedroom with only a forlorn teddy-bear for company. He couldn't remember why the door had swung shut to drown out his mother's angry voice, why the lock had clicked behind her, leaving him alone. _

_Perhaps he had been asking questions. Yes, that seemed likely. Perhaps he questioned the perfect life his family seemed to lead, asked why Muggle-borns were bad or the newly titled Voldemort, good. He didn't know. Perhaps Regulus had hit him again._

_As he thought this, his six year-old brother, his senior by eleven months, ran past the room, banging loudly on the locked door as he passed, laughing manically. From inside the room, Sirius heard his mother's cold voice pour loving words over the older boy. He scowled and kicked something, receiving only a pain in his foot for his troubles. _

_Now he was eleven, looking timidly around in a world he felt sure he would not fit into. A sallow-faced, jerky-looking boy approached him, but Sirius sent him away. He saw, through a window in the brilliantly red steam train, two friends laughing, one with hazel eyes and messy black hair, the other with grey eyes and shabby second-hand robes. They looked out as he gazed in, and as their eyes met, the eleven year-old Sirius knew that this was a place where he could be himself, for himself. _

_Happily, Sirius grinned at them as they beckoned him towards them. He stepped forwards, only to feel Regulus' hand on his arm. _

"_If you don't make it into Slytherin, Mum'll kill you," he snarled, his voice low, threatening, his all-Slytherin, pure-blood friends behind him. In a burst of courage, the eleven year-old boy wrenched his arm from his brother's grasp and walked away._

_Now he was fifteen, arriving at the dark house on Grimauld Place after a blazing argument with Regulus. Heart pumping, adrenalin racing, Sirius slammed the door of the Muggle 'taxi' come to pick them up and rushed into the shadow of the house. He'd had enough._

_He threw all the objects and trinkets he owned into his already bulging school trunk, being careful with only a few. Old schoolbooks he left; the Muggle posters of girls in bikinis he had ensured no-one would take down stayed, their frozen faces gazing enticingly down at the angry teen, busy cramming all his worldly goods into his trunk. _

_He was getting out. Getting await from being held back, snarled at, beaten up and frowned upon by Regulus. A sense of freedom and exhilaration descended on the fleeing boy as he took the stairs three at a time, jumping past the heads of house-elves impaled on the dingy walls. He ran past Regulus on his way to the door. The Seeker, lithe and agile, caught his arm and stopped him in his tracks. _

"_Where are you going?" Sirius pulled his arm out of his brother's grasp. _

"_Anywhere but here. I'm getting out. Away from you ruining my life." _

"_What life?" taunted the older boy, but Sirius marched determinedly from the room, not stopping to think about what he'd done until the dark shadow of number 12, Grimauld Place was far behind him, a memory fading out of the back window of the Knight Bus. _

_Never again. Never again would he be pinned in a corner, taunted and bullied to within an inch of his sorry life. Never again would Regulus have power over him. He was free. _

_Sirius looked down at the moving photo held in his clenched fist, and his best friends in all the world looked back up at him, smiling and happy in the paradise world of Hogwarts his home. _

_This was his life now. Now he was free.

* * *

_

Sirius opened his eyes. Every part of him ached, every breath sending sharp pains from his head to his groin. The merest flicker of his eyelids sent pain shooting up his temples. He groaned.

"Sirius? Padfoot?"

He tried to turn his head, but gave up to still the lancing pain in his neck. "Don't move," said Laura, standing up slightly to lay her hand softly on his chest.

"Where..." he began, his voice cracking several times and his throat burning.

"Beauxbatons infirmary," she replied. "I have to go and get the nurse now, she said to get her when you woke up." She watched him for a few seconds. "Do you want water?" she asked, standing up. He made a faint noise of assent, cursing himself for not being able to move; he felt like a baby, letting her mother him.

A cool glass pushed its way between his lips. Helplessly, Sirius drank. His throat cooled somewhat.

"Why are you here?" he asked. She smiled kindly at him.

"The others were here too," she replied. "James, Lily, Remus, Andromeda and Frank left about five minutes ago." Sirius smiled and struggled to sit up. Pain exploded behind his eyes. He saw stars, and a huge wave of nausea washed over him. He retched.

"I'm going to get the nurse," Laura said worriedly and ran off to find her.

Sirius slumped back on his pillows. He thought back to what he could remember of the task. He remembered the unexpected Lethifold attack. But how had he ended up here?

He looked around. 'here' was an airy room, seemingly at the top of one of the palace's many magnificent turrets. Wide bay windows lined the walls, sunlight streaming through them to throw dappled, dancing patterns on the mostly empty beds.

A lump came to Sirius' throat as he saw one bed that was not empty. A crowd of students in forget-me-not blue robes were gathered around it, and through a gap in the forest of limbs, Sirius could just see the pale, lifeless body of Phillipe Yvain, his eyelids closed now, so peaceful he could be sleeping.

Sirius felt slightly disconnected. What was he supposed to feel? Sadness? Anger? Guilt? Two of the students around the boy's bedside broke away to look at Sirius, talking in hushed voices to each other. Sirius didn't understand what they said. Were they angry with him for being left alive while their friend lay without thought or breath? Did they feel sorry for him, there wounded and alone in a foreign school? Or did they hate him for not reacting faster? Did they wish that it were him lying cold and lifeless on an empty bed while their hero, their champion sat wounded but alert in his?

The two students turned and walked away. Sirius shook himself, mentally. They probably just felt sorry for him – no-one could hate him for what happened. His mind drifted, spiraling through the memories that unconsciousness had thrown to the front of his mind.

They were all about Regulus. How his older brother hated him, wanted him dead or at least far, far away...

Laura was back, looking oddly demure in the wake of a large woman in a starched apron. "_Merci,_" she said to Laura. She produced a beaker of some bright orange fluid. Laura mimed drinking behind the woman's back. Sirius took the beaker, trying not to laugh at the woman's eager nodding as he tipped its contents down his throat, grimacing as the liquid burned and blistered on the way down.

The woman made a clicking noise in her throat and bustled off. Laura came to sit back beside him. "I think she said you can go tomorrow. Or, you'll be okay by tomorrow. Or something."

Sirius already felt better. "Laura," he said as she stood up to go. She turned back towards him. "Did Regulus really save my life?" She stood for a few seconds, blinking at him. Then she sighed and sat back down.

"Yes," she said softly. "Yes, he did." She stared into space, memories obviously blooming behind her eyes.

"Why?" he asked. Her vacant expression didn't shift but her gaze rested on him. She sighed again.

"I don't know. He's been..." she began rocking slightly on her chair. "He's been avoiding me. He's been avoiding everyone." Breaking out of her trance, she stood up again. "All I know is that one second I was screaming for you while he held my hand, and the next... he was gone." She walked out.

She left so suddenly, Sirius couldn't call her back and was left in the dark of his thoughts.

The stony, lifeless body of Yvain loomed over him, like a coffin lit up in a corner of a stage.

* * *

By the time the vanished sunlight began to leak through the bay window, Sirius was up and pacing the infirmary fitfully. The rotund nurse bustled him back into bed, but by the third time he had simply jumped back up again, she let him go.

Only, he didn't really know where, He went down a few light, airy staircases and through a few corridors. The place was deserted; it was mid-morning and Sirius could hear, from behind closed doors, a buzz of everyday life.

He felt lost, lost beyond the material world of the palace with too many unfamiliar corridors. Emotions were clamoring for voices inside his chest: anger at Raiden, sorrow for Yvain, confusion with Regulus.

Mostly confusion. He felt like everything that he knew for certain in the world had just been proved untrue. Regulus hated him. Regulus had saved his life. The two sentences echoed in his head in time with his steady footfalls. He hated Regulus to his very core, and yet it was to him that he owed his life, not to those he loved, not James or Moony or even Dumbledore. And he didn't want to owe _anything_ to Regulus, let alone his life.

What would happen now? Would they abandon the tournament and go back to Hogwarts, where he could lose himself in the maze of classes and lessons and lives, and not worry about Regulus? Or would they press on with only two champions, the host school excluded and wondering why he, Sirius, was still champion when another student had had to rescue him from the last task?

That last seemed unlikely, he mused, shying away from the sound of shoes on the squeaky floor as doors opened and students poured from the rooms beyond, filling up the corridor with a sea of forget-me-not blue, in which he stood, his black robes standing out like a rock in a rushing river. People turned to look at him as they passed, some blinking and hurrying on, others stopping to say a few words with shining eyes. _Yvain_ and _merci_ were often repeated, but Sirius didn't know what they meant by it. They didn't look angry.

"Sirius!" He turned around: it was Echo. She pushed her way through the crowd to him. He grinned as she made it to his side. "Are you all right?" she peered into his face, her pale eyes concerned. He nodded as a girl rushed up to him, gabbled "Merci, monsieur!" and was gone. He looked at Echo.

"What are they all saying? Are they angry at me?"

Her eyes widened. "Oh, no! They are thanking you. If you had not acted when you did, Phillipe's friends would have no body to grieve. In our culture, that is important."

"But if I had acted a moment sooner, he might still be alive," Sirius protested. She shrugged.

"We are thankful for what we have. If they cannot blame you, then you can hardly blame yourself." She smiled and turned away from him. "Shall I show you back outside?" They began to wade through the crowd as a child wades through water in a river.

"What will happen now?" Sirius asked her as they fought their way down another spiral staircase. "With the Tournament?" The crowd began to thin as they descended.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I think you will all go home. You will be missed – a lot of the girls here see you and your brother as heroes." Sirius snorted.

"I don't know why he did it," he said. "He's always hated me. I ran away from home last summer." She tutted.

"You are family. You matter to each other, deep down," she said confidently. Sirius didn't want to tell her how wrong she was. They reached a wider hall, and Echo showed him out the tall front door. He grinned back at her as he strode out towards the Snitch, glinting in the mid-morning sun.

* * *

By the next day he knew he couldn't put it off any longer. He had to deal with Regulus. _Deal with Regulus... _it sounded as if he were going to a fight to the death. Perhaps he was – he never could tell with Regulus.

It took a while for Sirius to find him, tucked up behind a bush in the huge garden. "Regulus?" he said hesitantly. The older boy gave a huge start and jumped up, scrambling away until he stood, breathing heavily, with his back firmly placed towards his younger brother.

"I just wanted to.. to thank you," Sirius began awkwardly. "For – for – you know, um -"

"I didn't do it for you," Regulus cut in angrily. Sirius' heart sank.

"I didn't think so," he replied sadly. "But... thanks, anyway." He kept watching but Regulus didn't turn around or reply. He stood there for a few seconds on tenterhooks, wondering whether he should just walk away. He waited a moment too long.

"What do you want from me?" Regulus exploded. He turned to face Sirius, who saw in dismay the tears trailing down his face.

"An explanation?" Sirius said helplessly, trying not to get angry like he usually did when Regulus yelled at him. The older boy sighed.

"Laura cares about you. I... wanted her to be happy, and when you were... she started to cry and I... I just acted! But now I'm thinking more about.." he broke off angrily, and turned away. "We've always hated each other," he continued hollowly. "Ever since we were old enough to know we were different. I don't think I want that to change."

Sirius struggled with the anger inevitably rising like bile inside his throat. "I'm not sure you have a choice," he said coldly. "I owe you my life. I'm grateful." He took a deep breath before turning and walking away.

"I'm sorry," Regulus called after him. Sirius stopped. "I don't want to be, but I am." he sighed. "I was horrible to you. Always, and I told myself it was okay because if I gave you a chance, you'd do the same for me. You'd take everything I knew and turn it around until I didn't know which way was up. Now I have Laura, I... I see things differently."

Sirius gave his brother a sour smile. "You? Change? I'll believe that when I see it." Regulus' face twisted.

"I was happy how I was," he snarled. "Hating you, joining Voldemort... everything seemed so certain. Now -" he broke eye contact with Sirius - "Now nothing's certain, and I don't know if I'll ever be happy again."

Sirius snorted. "You're messed up," he said shortly. Regulus didn't say anything. "Is that why you're avoiding Laura? She's really cut up about it."

"What do you know about Laura?" snapped Regulus.

Sirius looked at him for a moment, dismayed. "Nothing," he replied truthfully. He shook his head. "Nothing." But that wasn't how he wanted it to be.

Regulus gazed at him for a few seconds as though he'd never seen him before. Then he looked away sharply. "Keep your fat mouth shut, then," he said gruffly.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Fine," he replied coolly. Regulus closed his eyes, but Sirius thought he glimpsed another tear glimmering on his cheek before the Seeker turned away.

Sirius smiled morosely and walked back to the Snitch, unsure quite what to make of the outburst; if anything, he almost felt more confused than he had before. He knew that Regulus wanted to go on hating him, but the thought of catching his stoic, unmovable bully of a big brother when he was _vulnerable, _having feelings like a normal person, was unheard of.

The Snitch loomed into view through the stubborn mist of the garden, Dumbledore running towards him from it.

"Sirius! Mr. Black, at last," he panted. Sirius always hated it when people called him 'Mr. Black." It reminded him of his father. He had always been horrified, as a child, at the thought of inheriting his name.

"Yes, Professor?"

Dumbledore came to a halt. He looked as if he'd been running for quite a while. "Mr. Raiden wants to speak to you." Sirius frowned.

"Raiden? The one who tried to kill me?" Dumbledore's sapphire eyes glittered.

"It was an accident, Mr. Black," he said sharply. "And I think he means to apologize."

"All right," Sirius sighed resignedly, walking past his Transfiguration Master and into the Snitch. "Do I have to be alone?" he threw over his shoulder. James grinned and ran up to him, Moony lagging at his heels. Dumbledore surveyed the three, his silver beard twitching as though he were trying not to smile.

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Lupin may accompany you," he confirmed. "But if they are asked to leave, then they will have to do so." The three shared looks briefly. "And we are going _now,_" he said serenely.

"Lead the way, sir," said James in an almost mocking voice. None of them quite had the courage to be disrespectful to Dumbledore; there was something in his eyes, in his air and manner, that told them that even the Marauders would not do well to misbehave in his classes.

To Sirius' surprise, they were led back into the palace, into a classroom. Echo was already there, along with the boy from the tent before the task – Hanish, Sirius remembered. They sat down, and Echo and Hanish came to sit with them. Echo addressed Dumbledore.

"Madame Mayet wishes your presence in her office after this is over," she said solemnly. "It is right at the top – I will show you after." Dumbledore dipped his head.

The door opened. In walked the Durmstrang Headmaster, looking unusually grave, and Raiden. They were alone. Raiden cast a surly glance at Moony and James before sitting down on Hanish's other side and engaging him in conversation.

Dumbledore coughed. "Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt, but I believe you had something to say?" The Durmstrang Headmaster looked blankly at Dumbledore. Hanish broke away from Raiden to look expectantly at Echo. She sighed and obediently began to translate.

Sirius heard James snigger beside him and looked around. "This is going to take ages," he said, not bothering to lower his voice. "If everything we say has to go through three languages to get from person to person." Sirius returned a wry grin as Hanish related the translated words to the Durmstrang pair.

Raiden stood up. "Here we go," whispered Moony, a laugh in his voice. Raiden started to talk, his deep eyes on Sirius, his guttural speech flowing smoothly. "We'll understand what he said in half an hour."

Sirius snorted. Raiden's eyes narrowed suddenly and Sirius realised that the Durmstrang boy couldn't understand what they were saying and so probably thought they were insulting him. He flung a hand into Moony's stomach, shutting the werewolf up abruptly.

"Shh," he said. "He thinks we're insulting him."

"Hanish says it would be best not to anger Raiden," Echo relayed softly in her clear, accented voice. "Raiden says he is sorry for the death of Yvain, and regrets his part in the events that caused you pain." Sirius felt anger bubble in his stomach.

"His part? He bloody cursed me! You could see it was causing me pain," he burst out, directly addressing Raiden even though he knew he would not be understood, "And yet you just kept going!" Echo's translation was calm and measured. Sirius felt so frustrated that he could almost feel smoke pouring from his ears. Hanish's voice had a calm, almost mesmerizing quality to it that was at complete odds to the words he was saying. It took the meaning out of Sirius' words, making them sound limp and pathetic. It made his blood boil.

As Hanish spoke, Raiden's thick eyebrows contracted and his surly face reddened. At the last word, he jumped up, his face screwed up in anger, his fists clenched. He yelled at the other occupants of the room, throwing his Headmaster's hand off his shoulder as it landed. His words began the long, slow process through French to English as he stood there, breathing heavily, and Sirius waited with baited breath for the insults to fall.

James cracked up.

Sirius turned on him, his anger rising again; couldn't James tell how frustrating this was for him? James, helpless with laughter, raised his arms in defense as Sirius looked daggers at him.

Echo began to speak. "Raiden asks you how you can think he meant to curse you like that? He says the spell was sent at the Lethifold in his anger at seeing Yvain's lifeless body. His anger caused him to lose control."

Sirius jumped up too. "How can he say that spell was aimed at the Lethifold? It was already fleeing, and obviously so. And where did he learn a curse like that anyway? Students don't learn Dark Magic where we come from!" James' laughter redoubled as Echo's cool voice began again. Sirius screamed in frustration and dropped back into his chair. He gave James a piercing look that failed to shut him up.

Raiden screamed in outrage as Hanish fell silent. Still standing, he launched himself at Sirius, who barely had a chance to react before the boy was upon him; his barrel chest was shoved in Sirius' face, his large fists outstretched to make brutal contact with Sirius' straight, sharp nose -

"_Protego!_" The word ripped from Dumbledore's mouth crudely, angrily. The charm threw the air aside carelessly, sending Raiden flying across the classroom and back into his Headmaster's arms. His voice thundered out, like a stormcloud in a rushing wind.

"I'm sorry, but I will not have your students attack mine! Unless Mr. Raiden wishes to apologize for his actions, we are finished with this discussion." He turned his face to Echo, who had stood up, her calm voice translating as Dumbledore had spoken. "Echo, I believe Madame Mayet wished to see me?"

Echo glanced at Hanish, who nodded and began relaying Dumbledore's words to the Durmstrang pair, thunder fading from Raiden's sullen face as Dumbledore stowed his wand back in his robes.

James had stopped laughing, Sirius noticed wryly. Echo turned to look at him.

"It has been nice to know you," she said gravely. "No doubt Madame Mayet will wish you to return home in the next few days now."

Moony choked, doubling over while James pounded him on the back, perhaps harder than was necessary. "The next few days?" Sirius repeated, surprised. He didn't want to stay in the company of Raiden any longer than he had to. But Echo had been so sweet to him, and going back to Hogwarts, among so many friends and enemies, surely James would lose what little he had with Lily, and Moony – no doubt that was what had set him choking – would lose contact with Andy.

And he would lose Laura. Something inside his chest twinged at the thought, like a string on a cello played wrong in a concerto that makes the audience flinch unpleasantly. Among friends, surely Regulus would manage to mend the hole he had created in his relationship with her, and everything he, Sirius, had gained would be lost again. He raised his eyes to Echo and forced a smile.

"Nothing's certain, right? It's not goodbye yet." His heart reflected the doubtful expression that flittered across her pale face. He turned to his best friends, the one still cheerfully walloping the other on the back as Moony tried to splutter out the words that would stop him. "Cut it out, Prongs," he said shortly. James grinned and raised his hands in surrender.

"Sure thing, Padfoot," he said sheepishly as Moony recovered his breath shakily. "Sorry, Moony." Moony grinned, in a way that plainly said James was forgiven, as James had fully expected. It happened every time.

Their last dinner at Beauxbatons Palace surpassed all the rest by far, a feat that Sirius had supposed impossible. The benches at the side of the hall groaned with the many dishes piled on top of it, and Sirius found himself returning to fill his plate several times, until his stomach protested at each mouthful. The Durmstrang students sat at a table as far away from the Hogwarts delegation as they could manage, slouching sulkily into their plates. The multitude of French students seemed oddly subdued, the gentle buzz of conversation quieter than usual. Victiore Eris sat with them again, casting a few sulky glances in James' direction, which he ignored dutifully.

Madame Mayet stood up. Silence swept over the hall as if a Silencing Charm had been cast upon it. As her fluid French tumbled from her mouth, all Sirius could think was _finally. Tomorrow I won't have to have every word spoken to me translated._

"She's just reminding us that it is your last meal with us," Echo told the table, speaking through the silence. "As though any of us had forgotten." Regulus let out the smallest snort; Echo turned her pale eyes on him and the two of them shared a smile. Sirius glanced at Laura. She was frowning at Regulus from where she sat: for the first time since they had arrived in France, she sat not by his side but on the opposite side of the table.

Sirius' name found its way into Mayet's speech. He jerked his head up to look at her as Echo smiled fondly at him. Before she'd had a chance to translate her Headmistress' words, applause broke out through the hall, echoing off the high ceiling. The people from a table in the middle of the hall stood up, clapping hard, their eyes fixed on Sirius, some smarting with tears. They were all smiling at him sadly. "Why are they clapping?" hissed Sirius at Echo, furiously. She laughed lightly.

"Madame Mayet touched on... on what happened. With Phillipe. I told you, you're a hero around here. A handsome one, too. Many of the girls say that they're in love with you." Moony snorted into his cup, and Andy, still next to him, gave him a hard look. Sirius looked around at the students that were standing: one girl, her blond hair so tightly curled it stuck out from her head, coloured as he looked at her. He grinned. He could get used to this. Pity he was leaving tomorrow.

* * *

It was dark by the time the Hogwarts twelve, accompanied by Dumbledore, made their way back to the golden Snitch, so dark that Sirius felt sure the light or his mind was playing tricks on him. He thought he saw, by the light of the waxing moon, that Moony and Andy were holding hands behind their backs; certainly, they were standing very close to one another. He tried to catch James' eye, but in the moonlight his best friend didn't see him.

Inside the Snitch, soft light played on the beanbags and armchairs and spiraled its way up the stairs. "I think we should all get an early night tonight," Dumbledore said softly, his sapphire eyes glinting. This time there could be no mistake; in full view of all the others, Moony bent slightly and placed a soft kiss on Andromeda's lips. Sirius and James shared looks as the four Gryfindors traipsed up the stairs and into bed.

Sirius woke to the sound of shouting coming from down the spiral stairs. Daylight illuminated the Snitch and danced over the back of Frank Longbottom, still fast asleep sprawled over his bed. The others were gone.

He dressed quickly and as quietly as he could so he didn't wake Frank, and descended the stairs. Regulus stood in front of an armchair, his fists clenched, looking as though he had just left the chair. On the other side of the Snitch, Laura sat curled up in a beanbag, and from the stairs, Sirius could see tears glistening in her deep brown eyes. Lily Evans sat on the floor beside her, her arm around Laura's shoulders.

Sirius went to sit beside James and Moony, who greeted him with quiet 'good morning's. He noted with a smile to himself that Andy hadn't risen yet.

"What happened with them?" he asked the other two, indicating Laura and Regulus, who had sat back down. James made a face.

"She came down about ten minutes ago and started trying to talk to him," he said softly. "He just ignored her for a bit, then suddenly he snapped. The git told her to leave him alone, and when she didn't he got really angry. I think," he said, frowning at Regulus, "That if Lily hadn't jumped in and told him to push off, he might have hit her." Sirius looked at his brother's red face and still-clenched fists. Regulus looked up, and, seeing Sirius' black eyes on him, gave a low growl like a threatened animal.

"What're you looking at?" he snarled. Sirius gave him a contemptuous look.

From the beanbag, Laura spoke out. "Leave him alone, Regulus," she said wearily. "He's done nothing wrong." Regulus' face twisted in rage as he turned on her.

"Why are you defending him? What's he to you?"

"He's my friend! Am I not allowed to have friends, now?"

"What do you see in him?"

"At the moment? More than I see in you!" Regulus growled again. Sirius stood up.

"Hey! I can fight my own battles, you know!" Laura looked away, tears trickling down her cheeks. Regulus looked as if he was about to retort, but a silvery voice interrupted him before he began.

"What's going on here?" Dumbledore stood at the bottom of the stairs, silhouetted with light at his back.

"Nothing," said Regulus offhandedly. Laura buried her head in her arms. "Nothing at all." And he stalked away, passing Dumbledore, almost knocking Andromeda down the stairs on his way up them. Laura let out a tiny sob, her shoulders shaking as she cried.

* * *

After breakfast, they went into the hall, where Mayet and Echo stood alone, making the huge hall seem even more elegant and large. They said their goodbyes, Mayet with a small smile on her face that made Sirius wonder how much she really wanted them gone. The Durmstrang students were already gone, Echo told them sadly.

"Where's everyone else?" James whispered softly to Sirius.

"I dunno," he whispered back. "Maybe they all had lessons." James shrugged and they turned to walk back through the tall doors to the sweeping gardens.

A wall of cheers met them from the whole school assembled in the misty garden, some carrying banners saying _Au Revouir, Hogwarts!_ And some simply screaming those words or others at the top of their voices. Sirius grinned at the multitude of forget-me-not blue robes. He'd never forget this. Never.

"The students wanted to give you a proper goodbye. Especially you, Sirius Black. I thank you, on behalf of all of them, for what you have done." Madame Mayet's throaty voice sounded just as elegant in English as it did in French.

As they made their way through the crowd, Sirius caught sight of the curly-haired blond girl, clutching one end of a banner. A pretty brunette girl held the other end. The banner read _Tu Prends Mon Coeur Avec Toi, Sirius Black! _Echo giggled as she saw it. Sirius was almost afraid to ask what it meant. As they reached the Golden Snitch and she still hadn't said anything, Sirius asked her quietly.

"Goodbye, Albus," said Mayet throatily, extending an olive hand for Dumbledore to kiss. "I 'ope we will be able to try this again someday." Dumbledore smiled, and Echo extended a hand to each of the Hogwarts students in turn, smiling. Sirius wondered if she'd heard his question.

"We will, Madame Mayet," said Dumbledore softly, opening the door of the Snitch. "We definitely will." He stepped into the Snitch, his students following him. Sirius was last, giving a final wave to the mass of Beauxbatons students. As the door slid smoothly behind him, Sirius caught a last whisper of Echo's calm voice.

"_Tu prends mon coeur avec toi: you're taking my heart with you, Sirius Black._"

* * *

Back at Hogwarts that evening, things were so similar that Sirius could hardly believe they'd been away. Wormtail greeted them with a voice so filled with relief Sirius almost felt sorry for him. They had landed quietly at the edge of the Dark Forest by the gamekeeper's cabin, trying not to attract attention. When the Gryfindor boys entered the Great Hall, its familiar warmth seeping through Sirius' skin in the comfortable cold of the British winter, Eva spotted them before anyone else did.

"Sirius! _Sirius!_" He clenched his teeth, bracing his ears against her high voice.

"Eva," he said through his teeth. She slid down the bench a little to make it obvious that she meant him to sit by her. He sighed, but James was already on his way to take the seat. Moony lingered a little, his grey eyes searching the Slytherin table for Andromeda. "Come on, Moony. And shut your mouth – you're drooling." Moony embarrassedly wiped his sleeve across his mouth, and, finding it dry, gave Sirius a dirty look before following James to the table.

"I've missed you, Sirius," Eva said as he sat down next to her. She batted her eyelids over her vivid blue eyes. He gave her a weak smile.

"Wormy, budge up a bit, here come Lily and Laura," said James eagerly. "We're sitting with the ladies tonight." Sirius raised an eyebrow cooly at him, but he looked up at the door anyway, feeling his heart thud nervously. Last time he had seen them together, Laura and Regulus hadn't been speaking at all. Did that mean...

Lily entered the hall alone, glancing back to see if her companions were following. James tried to catch her eye as she made her way to the Gryfindor table, but she swung her long red hair over her eyes and found a seat as far away from them as she possibly could. Sirius snorted. "Bad luck, Prongs," he said briskly, not daring to take his eyes off the high door to the Entrance Hall. Could it have finally happened?

"I think it takes more than luck for Evans to have kept up the same response for almost six years now," said Moony sarcastically. Wormtail tittered pathetically, but stopped when Sirius threw him a look of deep disgust before quickly turning his eyes back to the door.

He caught a glimpse of her dark hair, bouncing as though alive in the light from the bewitched ceiling. He craned his neck, straining to see her properly. Was she alone? Finally alone?

She emerged fully into the Great Hall, her delicate face laughing, her fingers locked with another, darker hand. Sirius felt disappointment crash over him like a wave over a cliff as Regulus followed her, smiling with love as his lips touched hers before they parted.

"Bad luck, Padfoot," said James, grinning wryly at Sirius. He scowled at his best friend. _Yep,_ he thought bitterly, stabbing a potato on his plate savagely, _things are back to normal already._


	7. Back to Normal

_Mr. Prongs is bored out of his skull, and asks his closest acquaintances to relieve his monotony._

_Mr. Padfoot registers his astonishment that Mr. Prongs managed to escape his extraordinarily large head, and wonders what kind of plant he's been smoking in Herbology. _

_Mr. Moony points out to Mr. Prongs that smoking kills, and that "the future Mrs. Prongs" is unlikely to approve. _

_Mr. Prongs bites back his clever retort, and doesn't answer._

_Mr. Wormtail wishes to inquire, what clever retort?_

_Mr. Padfoot gives Mr. Wormtail a scornful look, and informs him that he wouldn't have understood the retort anyway. _

_Mr. Prongs thanks Mr. Padfoot, but voices his confidence that he could have saved his own ares, thank you very much._

_Mr. Moony chokes back his laughter and doubts it; there's an awful lot of arse there to save. He keeps his thoughts to himself, however, because he doesn't want to offend Mr. Prongs._

_Mr. Prongs is offended anyway._

It was a Tuesday morning, and the double Potions lesson was dragging on even longer than usual. Sirius wondered, for the thousandth time that year, why he had chosen to continue with the subject. He reminded himself, as always, that he needed it if he wanted to train as an Auror. He looked back down at the scrap of faded parchment and snorted as he read the lines on the note since his last contribution. He scribbled a reply.

_Mr. Padfoot gives Mr. Prongs a pat on the back, before dealing a further blow to his self-esteem by informing him that the unsightly smoke pouring from his cauldron is messing up his hair. _

He folded the note into a semi-neat square, taking his time as Slughorn heaved his bulk past Sirius, and threw it, like a Muggle throws a Frisbee, across the room to James, who hid it as Slughorn coughed his way through the cloud of thick smoke emanating from James' cauldron. Then he scribbled a reply, his tongue comically poking out of the side of his mouth. Glancing around, he ignored Sirius' neat folds and screwed the note into a tight ball and threw it at Moony, who missed heroically. With a lurch from his stomach, Sirius saw the ball land in front of Laura, just missing her steaming cauldron.

She unfurled it and began to read. Sirius' heart thumped painfully as he watched her deep brown eyes sweep across the paper, her full, red lips curling into a smile as she reached the end. Sirius hoped it was his statements she found funny.

When she reached the end, Laura pulled a ballpoint pen from her pocket and wrote a few lines on the bottom before passing it on to Moony at the desk in front of her, who smiled at her as he took it.

When it found its way back to Sirius, Moony had folded it neatly into a bird. He unfolded it carefully.

_Mr. Prongs laments the condition of said self-esteem. He would like to hit Mr. Padfoot, but instead requests that Mr. Moony stop looking at his arse; he knows full well he's fat. _

_You guys are so cute! This is gorgeous. Laura wants a nickname too so that she can join in._

_Mr. Moony protests that he has no wish to look at Mr. Prongs' _derrière_, if you will excuse his French, and has no objection to Laura joining the conversation, though he doesn't see why she can't just use her real name. _

_Mr. Wormtail doesn't understand Mr. Moony's French, but would be pleased to accept Laura's involvement in the conversation. _

Sirius caught Laura's eye as he finished reading. She smiled apologetically. He grinned back.

_Mr. Padfoot rebukes that Mr. Wormtail doesn't understand anything, and inquires of Laura what her favorite animal is._

After throwing the note back to James, Sirius tried to focus on his potion for a bit; it was several shades of green lighter than it should be.

A minute later he gave up, and the note came around again.

_Mr. Prongs concurs with the general feeling towards Laura, however, he hopes that a good girl like her is at least doing her work while she passes notes to the boys._

_Mr. Moony is suddenly struck by the feeling that although Laura's training in Potion-making doesn't hold a candle to Mr. Prongs', her skill surpasses his already._

_Yeah, Potter. At least my potion isn't making Slughorn gag. Uh, Laura confirms that her favorite animal is actually a dog, but that's already taken, isn't it? Next, probably a turtle._

_Mr. Wormtail likes the name Myrtle for a turtle. _

Sirius suppressed a laugh and dipped his dried-up quill in the ink bottle again.

_Mr. Padfoot thinks that Mr. Wormtail has a secret crush on the ghost from the girls' toilet that's always out of order, and is always secretly glad when she makes those little visits up the plumbing to watch the boys in the shower..._

He looked up to James, about to send the note spinning his way, but stopped. Slughorn was bent over James' cauldron cautiously, apparently teaching the boy how to stop the thing from exploding, which it looked as if it was on the verge of doing.

James looked up suddenly and caught Sirius' eye. A plan began to form in Sirius' mind as he looked at the other boy; he had no intention of staying in class for the whole double period, especially since his potion had already decided it wasn't going to co-operate. He grinned at James and gestured towards the door.

Behind Slughorn's thinning sandy hair, James gave him the tiniest of nods. He grinned again, unfolding the note and screwing it up into a ball. Moony looked around as Sirius took aim.

The ball of paper hit Slughorn squarely on the head. It bounced off in the time it took the rotund Potions Master to turn around, and landed with a soft hiss in James' violently boiling cauldron.

"Sorry, Professor, sorry," said Sirius loudly. "That was aimed at James." He gave an angelic smile. Slughorn wasn't impressed, just as Sirius had hoped.

"Mr. Black," he said angrily, red splotches appearing on his cheeks, "How may times have I told you not to pass notes in class?"

"A fair few, sir, I'd say," chipped in James happily.

"And I wasn't passing it, sir, see, I was _throwing_ it." Slughorn threw the pair of them a very irritated look.

"Get out," he said, waving a hand at the door. "Both of you. Just go and sit outside."

Triumphantly, Sirius and James stood up and made for the door. Moony shook his head at them as they passed him, and Sirius responded with a very rude gesture that Slughorn, thankfully, didn't see. Moony laughed.

"Well, Mr. Lupin, if you find their fate so amusing, you can leave too," snapped Slughorn. Sirius laughed at the look on his face as he, too, got up and left the classroom.

It was cold in the dungeon corridor, away from the warmth of the fires underneath simmering cauldrons. The three boys sat hunched against the wall, shivering slightly. Suddenly being outside didn't seem like what Sirius had wanted.

"I'm bored," he said suddenly.

"Well, you wanted to get sent out of class," Moony admonished, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah," Sirius replied. "I was bored then, too."

"Hey Moony," James cut in cheekily, "You shouldn't roll your eyes so much. It can't be good for you."

Moony shook his head instead, making James and Sirius laugh. "So, you want to get back into class, yes?" A spark of an idea kindled in Sirius' mind again. He grinned mischievously.

"Yeah," he said.

"So what're we going to do?"

"What's a song we all know?" Moony groaned; Sirius had used this tactic before to great effect.

"You guys! Please don't sing when I'm right next to you..." Sirius shook his head. He didn't think his singing voice was _that_ bad.

"Or you could join in and make it better," he coaxed. Moony was better at singing than you'd tell by looking at him. Better by far than him or James, which wasn't really saying much. Moony tried to look unwilling, but despite his efforts, his wolfish face curled into a wry grin.

"Alright," he said. "How about Odo the Hero?"

James shuffled his butt around so that they were sitting in a circle. Sirius couldn't hide his gleeful grin as he cleared his throat. "On three?" The others nodded seriously. "Right! Three, two, one..." They started to sing, as loud as they could.

"Odo the Hero was a strapping young man

As fearless as you ever did see;

He was quick to help, and he made his Mum proud,

He was happy as ever could be..."

Doors banged open along the dungeon corridor as the Marauders finished their first verse. Voices from the NEWT students studying inside the classrooms burst out crossly, yelling things like: "Shut up!", "You guys can't sing for Pollock dung!", and "We're trying to work here!"

Without listening to them, the Marauders launched into the second verse amid screams of frustration from down the corridor. They were halfway through the verse when the door beside Sirius, the door they had just left through, burst open. The three boys broke off abruptly. Slughorn's belly protruded from the doorway. He surveyed them with a watery eye.

"Get in," he said grumpily after a while. Sirius smirked at the others. He'd known this would happen. Known that Slughorn wouldn't have let them disturb the other people.

Ten minutes later the bell rang. There was a huge commotion as people packed up their cauldrons and bags. Slughorn yelled to be heard. "Next lesson – _next lesson, guys – _I want you to have found out, and be able to tell me, what Golpalott's Laws are, in numerical order." He looked around the classroom for a while, smiling like a toad looking at a nest full of flies. "Right," he said finally. "Off you go to dinner, then."

On his way out of the classroom, Sirius somehow found himself next to Laura. She smiled at him. "Do you guys always pass notes in class?"

"Oh, yeah," Sirius replied casually, though his heart was thumping as her hand bumped against his in the throng of people pushing towards the door. "It's Potions, what else is there to do?"

She gave him a calculating look. "What do you want to be when you leave school?"

He considered the question before answering truthfully. "An Auror," he told her. She grinned, still looking at him as though sizing him up.

"Don't you need a good Potions N.E.W.T. grade for that?" she asked.

"Yeah," he admitted, slightly guilty. "That's the only reason I'm taking it this year." She smiled sympathetically and they stopped outside the door to wait for he others. "What do you want to be?" he asked her as James, Moony and Peter emerged from the steamy dungeon.

"I don't really know," she replied absently. "Hang on, let's wait for Lily." The Marauders had started to move off, but they stopped at her request. "Before Hogwarts, I wanted to be an actress," she told them as Lily came through the door and the six of them started towards the Great Hall. "But now... I'm just getting all the qualifications I can."

Sirius nodded, wondering what he could say to keep the conversation moving. "Wizards have actresses too, you know," he said. She made a noise of assent.

"But here, there are jobs that seem... more interesting," she said thoughtfully.

They had reached the Great Hall. Sirius' heart sank as he saw Regulus come down a flight of stairs, smiling a Laura. She ran over to him. Sirius turned away from them, a bitter taste in his mouth. The front doors opened briefly, letting in a harsh blast of snow and a few battered, frozen-looking students. Eva was amongst them. She shook out her long blond hair as she reached Sirius.

"Hey, boys," she said silkily. James and Moony ignored her. Peter gave her a weak smile. Sirius felt compelled to reply as they entered the Great Hall.

"Hey, Eva," he replied. They sat down at the Gryfindor table and Eva leaned on Sirius' arm. He tried to ignore her, feeling awkward. He looked out at the door, seeing Regulus and Laura locked in a close embrace.

"Sirius," breathed Eva in his ear. He turned his head a little; her face was very close to his.

So Sirius kissed her, because he knew it was what she wanted, and because she wasn't Laura.

"Attention, students!" Professor Dippet had stood up. Sirius and Eva broke apart, Sirius feeling oddly disconnected as he saw James and Moony staring at him, shocked. "Professor Beery would like to say a few words after you've all eaten."

Dinner was decidedly awkward after Lily and Laura sat down opposite Eva, who was stroking Sirius' hair and leaning on his chest even while he ate. Laura was avoiding his eyes, which made him wonder, with his heart in his mouth, whether she was jealous. He placed his hand on Eva's waist, but Laura wasn't looking.

The leftover food disappeared from the plates and Professor Beery stood up. Sirius had always thought that, true to his name, Beery looked like an alcoholic, chubby and red-faced.

"This Christmas," he said with bravado, once the listening students had quietened, "Hogwarts will be putting on its first ever pantomime. I hope that this will become a regular occurrence for us. Anyone who is interested in being a part of this pantomime will please remain behind after the Headmaster has dismissed you."

He sat down again amid a buzz of talk. Hogwarts had never done a Christmas pantomime before. "You guys going to stay?" Sirius shot across the table. James and Moony shrugged.

"Oh, Sirius, let's," Eva said plaintively. "It'll be fun!"

"I'm keen," he said, pretending not to hear Lily tell Laura it'd be right up her alley.

So after dinner, they waited. Beery sat in the middle of the Ravenclaw table and gestured for the others to join him, which they did. Laura bounced over to Regulus, who had stayed, looking apprehensive. There were about thirty of them there.

"Well, this is a good turnout, isn't it?" said Beery cheerfully. He waved his wand, sending the Gryfindor and Hufflepuff tables to the far wall. "Now, the bedside tale that we will be retelling is 'The Fountain of Fair Fortune'. Ah, Sirius, you know it?"

Sirius had made a small, involuntary noise. He remembered listening jealously as his mother told Regulus that story. "Who doesn't know it?"

"I don't," Laura cut in clearly. "Muggles don't tell it."

So Beery retold the story, his voice low, dramatic, his muddy brown eyes alight. Laura listened with as much intensity form where she sat on Regulus' knee. When he was done, several people joined her in clapping enthusiastically. Sirius hadn't realised that Beery could tell stories like that; even though he had heard the story several times before, he listened, spellbound, to Beery's retelling.

"Wow. So that's what wizards tell instead of Cinderella?"

"What's Cinderella?" asked James. Laura laughed and shook her head.

"You like the story, dear?" said Beery happily. "Then perhaps you and Regulus there would consent to play the valiant Sir Luckless and the heartbroken Amata?"

"I think I'd rather play Asha," said Laura thoughtfully, "But there could be someone better than me here with the same thoughts, Professor. Are you going to audition us?"

Beery nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, yes, of course," he said, "We might as well do that now. Regulus, would you still be interested in playing Sir Luckless, now that your delightful girlfriend has decided against the role of Amata?"

Regulus made a face. "Not really, sir," he said reluctantly. "I'm only here because of Laura." As Beery nodded again, sadly this time, Laura looked up at him.

"I thought you wanted to do this?" she said indignantly. "I wouldn't have asked you if I thought you didn't want to."

"Well, I came, okay?" he sounded angry now. Wisely, Sirius thought, Laura said nothing. Beery broke the silence that began to brew fitfully.

"Right. And can I assume that the rest of you boys intend to attempt an audition for the part of Luckless?" James and Moony mumbled something about only wanting to be extras, but Sirius nodded, as did the only other boy present, a burly Ravenclaw fifth-year.

"Excellent, boys, excellent. And how many of you ladies wish to try for the part of Asha?" About half the girls there put up their hands. Beery's face blanched. "Ah. We may have a problem there. How about Altheda?" Andromeda, whom Sirius hadn't even noticed there, raised the hand that wasn't linked with Moony's. She was the only one. "Ah," said Beery again, "That's easier, isn't it? And I assume the rest of you wish to play Amata? Perfect. Perfect," he repeated. "The audition process may take a while, so those of you who do not wish to audition for a part may go. I will put notices, cast lists, etcetera on the common room noticeboards." James, Moony and a few other girls stood up and left. Laura, standing up now, turned to Regulus, who hadn't moved.

"Are you auditioning now? Or are you leaving?"

"Neither, I'm watching," he replied coolly. She stared at him.

"Fine," she replied, and sat down again, a little way away from him. He reached out and stroked her hair. She shrugged him off, but gave him a warmer look.

"Well," said Beery jovially. "Would you like to go first then, Laura, so the two of you can leave together?" She nodded, tying her hair up with a loop of elastic.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked, standing up again.

"Well, is there a piece of poetry you know off by heart, or would you like me to give you a piece of script..."

"I have a piece of poetry," she said quietly. She stepped into the space he had created in front of him. Everyone turned around to watch.

"Great," Beery said excitedly, shifting his body on the bench. "When you're ready, dear."

She took a deep breath, and, looking straight at Regulus, recited her poem:

"_Let me not to the marriage of true minds_

_Admit impediments. Love is not love_

_Which alters when it alteration finds_

_Nor bends with the remover to remove;_

_O no! It is an ever-fixed mark _

_That looks on tempests and is not shaken_

_It is the star to every wandering bark_

_Whose worth's unknown, and height's not taken..."_

She put so much feeling into the lines as she spoke them, Sirius was transfixed. Absently, he clutched Eva closer to him as he listened and she didn't respond. beery looked blown away as she finished, so transported that as she delivered the last line, her eyes still fixed on Regulus, he burst into peals of applause. She smiled.

"Oh, marvelous, dear, marvelous! Anyone think they can beat that? You can go, dear, should the two of you want to," he added softly. He looked around at the rest of them, beaming.

"Perhaps you boys would like to go next? Sirius, m'boy, you're a very melodramatic person, let's see what you can do..."

Sirius glanced up at Laura, who looked as if she wanted to stay, but Regulus was pulling on her arm. "I don't know anything quite that beautiful," he said, looking at her imploringly. She shook her hand free from Regulus' and scribbled something on a piece of parchment, which she gave to him. He read it quickly; it was another poem. He walked over to the empty space as he read it through. It was even more beautiful than the last one. He wondered where they came from.

"When you're ready, Sirius," Beery said again. Sirius read out the scribbled lines from the fresh parchment.

"_I love you more than words can wield_

_the matter;_

_Dearer than eyesight, space,_

_and liberty;_

_Beyond what can be valued, _

_rich or rare;_

_No less than life, with grace, health,_

_beauty, honor;_

_More than child ever loved, or _

_father found;_

_A love that makes breath poor, and_

_speech unable;_

_Beyond all manner of so much _

_I love you."_

As he read them, Sirius tried to put as much expression into them as Laura had, but he just felt stupid. He looked up at the last line, but Laura and Regulus had left in the middle of the speech and his eyes lit on Eva instead. She beamed at him.

"Brilliant, m'boy, brilliant!" Beery exclaimed jovially. "If you wish, you can leave now, too. Or you can wait until your girlfriend has auditioned, if you'd rather!" He gave Eva a saucy look, which she returned with a somewhat disgusted one. Sirius went to sit down again next to Eva, who took his hand softly. He put his arm around her as the Ravenclaw boy stood up. "Ah, Ted!" said beery happily, sitting back as if his day just kept getting better. "Shoot!"

Ted wasn't bad, but Sirius refused to feel nervous. He watched the auditions until Eva had finished. None of the girls were quite as good as Laura, although Andromeda delivered a stunning monologue from the script that Beery held in his chubby fist. As the two of them left, Beery turned to them.

"You two lovebirds! You'd make the perfect Luckless and Amata," he said, winking genially. Ted, the Ravenclaw fifth-year, looked slightly put out. Sirius put his arm around Eva, who kissed him lightly in return, and the two of them made their way back up to Gryfindor Tower.

The Fat Lady gave him a calculating look as they arrived, but said nothing but the usual demand for the password. Eva suppressed a yawn as they reached the stairs to the dorm. "I'm whacked," she said to him, unwinding his hand from her hip and turning to face him. She smiled, and Sirius could see so much love and excitement in her smile, it made his face turn up in response. "Goodnight, Sirius."

"Good night," he replied, kissing her softly on the lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and turned the kiss into something deeper, parting her lips before pulling away. She skipped off up the stairs to the girl's dormitories. Sirius glanced briefly up the other staircase, but he didn't climb it. Instead, he went to sit in one of the few empty armchairs in the still buzzing common room.

"Hey, Sirius," one of the seventh-years clustered around the fire called; he looked up. "didn't you go out with her a couple of years back, and dump her because she ended up annoying the hell out of you?" He thought about this. After a while, he had to agree with the boy: that was exactly what had happened. He nodded absently. "You must be pretty desperate," the boy muttered as he turned back to his friends around the fire.

He felt as if he were watching the night's events as an outsider, not living them for himself. He would never have let Eva think that he cared one jot about her, were he in his right mind. Never have given up on Laura. yet, even though Eva's high voice and her habit of clinging to his side like a piece of fluff stuck to his robes did annoy him, at least she loved him. Him, not his brother. He needed to know that someone loved him. Even if it wasn't Laura.

A few minutes later, Sirius got up and went to bed to get away from the whispers and furtive glances he was receiving from the seventh-years.

He woke up with the dark of night pressing down on him and knew, somehow, that he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. He'd been having a strange dream, one that he felt reluctant to descend into once more, and he could feel it lingering on his pillow, ready to pounce on him should he close his eyes again.

So he got up and dressed lowly, quietly, into his robe and left the dormitory. As he tiptoed down the stairs, he thought he heard a sob from the base of them. He paused. He had assumed that it was late enough (or early enough) for the common room to be empty. He didn't want to disturb anyone.

Hearing another sob, louder this time, his curiosity overcame him and he continued down the stairs, emerging into the flickering light of the dying fire. A girl sat in a armchair beside it, her shoulders shaking. Although her back was to him, Sirius thought that he would have recognised those brown curls anywhere. He took a tentative step forwards.

"Laura?" his voice rang loudly in the wide room. On hearing it, she jumped in fright and a small gasp escaped her lips. She turned hurriedly in her chair to face him.

"Sirius," she said, and to his dismay, fresh tears leaked from her already bloodshot eyes to mingle with the many that appeared to already have fallen. Feeling his stomach twinge, Sirius went to sit beside her. She turned away from him and broke into a fresh fit of sobbing. He reached out awkwardly and patted her gently on the back. She sobbed harder.

"What's the matter?" he asked softly, feeling stupid. She turned to face him again, but said nothing through her sobs. Her back now out of his reach, Sirius settled for patting her shoulder.

After a few minutes, she calmed down enough to speak. "R-Regulus and I b-broke up," she said, and dissolved into more strangled sobs.

Sirius didn't know what to say. He had wanted these words to come out of her mouth for so long, but now that they did, they seemed hollow, empty of the happiness that he'd thought they would bring.

"I'm sorry," he said, and he really was; he wondered briefly if she was going to be sick, the force of her sobs was disturbing her so. He looked around the common room, thinking. Laura was making enough noise to wake the third-years that slept closest to the bottom of the staircase. Should he tell her about the room? Moony and James would kill him...

Recklessly, Sirius decided that he didn't care. "Laura," he said to her, and she raised red-rimmed eyes to him; "Do you want to go somewhere where we won't wake anyone up, and you can tell me what happened?" She stared at him, and then nodded slowly. He quickly explained about the room and pointed to the door. She gazed at the wall as if she'd never seen it properly before, which she probably hadn't. Hardly anyone knew about the well-hidden room off Gryfindor tower: Sirius, James, Moony and Peter had found out about it from James' dad. The door, large and bright blue, was only there if you expected it to be, o it was great for the Marauders' years of studying Animagi, and for the experimenting that had led to the creation of the Marauders' Map; after all, who would expect to find a door that resolutely blue in the middle of the red- and gold-decked Gryfindor common room? Sirius knew that James, Moony and Peter didn't ever want to share it with anyone else. But, watching tears trail down Laura's face, he knew they'd forgive him.

"But you can't tell _anyone_," he finished sternly. "Especially not Lily. James would kill both of us - there's stuff in there he wouldn't want her to find." Sirius grinned as he thought of the diary entries, the twelve-year-old James' hasty drawings, the fifteen-year-old's attempts at love-letters. Oh, yes. Jams would kill them if Lily ever found those.

Soft light oozed from the white walls of the room as Sirius and Laura opened the blue door. He watched her tear-stained face intently as she took in the bean-bags and armchairs, the wide bed and the dark wooden desks. A tremulous smile lit her eyes. "This is amazing," she told him. He grinned, and directed her to the bed.

"Yeah," he replied, but turned sober at once. "So... what happened?"

She sat down heavily on the bed, taking deep, steadying breaths. "We - we argued," she said, her eyes fixed on the floor. "About the pantomime, you know how he didn't want to audition..." she broke off and tears filled her eyes again. Her knees crept up to her chest. "I'd never seen him so angry," she continued, hugging her legs and rocking on the spot. "I started to get scared.... I was crying, saying I didn't want to argue, didn't want to fight... but everything I said just seemed to make him angrier.... and then -" she cut off again and buried her head between her knees.

It felt like Sirius had been doused in cold water. "He - _hit_ you?"

She shook her head, a sob escaping faintly from her buried head. I thought he was going to," she hiccoughed. Relief washed over Sirius. "He - he went all quiet, and his - his fist were clenched really hard and I -" she sobbed again before carrying on, "I just ran away." She raised her head off her knees and wiped her eyes. Tentatively, Sirius sat down beside her on the bed and put his arm around her. She crumpled with a fresh wave of tears and leaned into him. Sirius found himself holding her, stroking her hair softly, like he'd dreamed of doing for months.

After a while, her sobs subsided into vague sniffs and hiccoughs. He pulled a tissue box off a nearby table and presented it to her. She took one and blew her nose loudly.

"I keep trying to hate him, but then I..." she suppressed a shiver against his chest, "I remember how he used to kiss me, and -" she started to cry again. Sirius made a comforting noise. Unbidden, a scene from a Muggle film crept into his head. A scene like this one, a man comforting a woman, only after a while, she had kissed him...

He put the thought out of his head with difficulty. _She's just broken up with my brother,_ he told himself sternly. aura pulled another tissue out of the box.

"I'm sorry, Sirius," she said weakly, sitting up. He hastily dropped his arms from around her. "You must think I'm so stupid." He shook his head, smiling in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. She yawned.

"Lie down," he told her softly. "Go to sleep." She lay down obediently, stifling a second yawn as he pulled the bedcovers over her. She curled up on her side, shifting her body closer to the wall, leaving half the bed free. He looked at it for a few seconds, then stood up to bring an armchair close o the bed, but she caught his arm.

"Please don't go, Sirius," she said, her dark eyes wide. His gut wrenched; he sat back down on the bed and watched her fall asleep.

She looked so beautiful there, asleep in the bed that he had slept in so many times, that Sirius' heart spilled over with love. The feeling confused him a little: he had never felt anything quite like it before. It was oddly exhilarating, but at the same time it was exasperating, making him want to laugh and scream at once. Laura, the girl he'd been vainly pursuing all year, was finally within his grasp. But now he had Eva hanging off his arm... how could he tell her he was in love - finally, truly, deeply in _love_ - with someone else without hurting her? It was impossible.

_There was a time when you wouldn't have cared, _he thought wryly. _When you would have don what would have made you happiest and not cared about how Eva felt. _He wondered dazedly when he had changed.

After several more minutes, Sirius decided to put the new dilemma aside until morning. He lay down and within moments, with Laura's fingers still clamped around his wrist, he, too, was asleep.


	8. The Season of Forgiving

**A/N: Just in case you don't know the story of _The Fountain of Fair Fortune, _here it is, roughly.**

_The Fountain of Fair Fortune stands in a little-visited place; but once a year, one person is granted access beyond the high garden walls to bathe in the Fountain and receive fair fortune for evermore. People flocked to the Fountain for this one day, hoping to be the one let in. One year, three women met up outside the gates: Asha, who had an illness that no doctor could cure; Altheda, whose money, possessions and wand had been stolen from her; and Amata, who had been deserted by her lover and was overcome by grief. The three made a pact that should one of them be chosen, she would find a way for the rest of them to accompany her beyond the walls. Asha was chosen that year, and pulled into the garden. She grabbed onto Altheda, who took hold of Amata, whose robes caught on the rusty armor of a woebegone knight, and all four of them were taken through the high gates. _

_Deciding to determine which of them would bathe when they reached the Fountain, they set off, only to find their path blocked b a giant worm, which spoke to them: _Pay me the proof of your pain._ Finding no way past it, Asha sank to her knees and wept. The worm sucked the tears from her face and out of the way. They began to climb a hill, but found they made no progress. Altheda simply redoubled her efforts. A message appeared at their feet: _Pay me the fruits of your labours. _They attempted to pass it, but to no avail, until Altheda wiped the sweat from her brow and it fell upon the earth. The words vanished and they made good progress. They reached a wide river and once again found their way barred. A stone deep in the middle of the river read, _Pay me the treasure of your past._ Amata bent and poured the happy memories with her vanished lover into the stream, which washed them away and stepping stones appeared._

_With the fountain in their sights, Asha's illness overcame her and she fainted. Altheda hurriedly gathered some herbs, mixed them into a poultice and fed them to Asha, who jumped up, cured. "I'm cured!" she shouted happily. "Let Altheda bathe!" But Altheda said, "With this remedy, I can earn gold aplenty! Let Amata bathe!" But Amata found that the stream had washed away the sorrows of her lover, and gestured Sir Luckless to the Fountain. So the knight clanked to the Fountain and bathed in its waters. On returning, he fell at Amata's feet, finding her the most kind and beautiful woman he had ever percieved, and begged for her hand. She accepted, realising that she had finally found a man worthy of them. The four lived long and happy lives, and none of them ever knew or suspected that the fountain's waters held no enchantment at all._

* * *

Sirius emerged from the dormitory late on Saturday morning still bleary-eyed and tousle-haired. He didn't quite see the last step down the staircase, tripped and stumbled, grabbing onto the closest things at hand to keep himself upright.

He found himself with one arm around James and the other around Moony. They watched as he collected himself. He stood up, trying to look dignified. He blinked. "I'm awake," he said brightly.

"Like hell, you are," James replied. Moony grinned happily.

"Congratulations, Luckless," he said buoyantly. Sirius blinked again.

"What?" he said. They just grinned at him. Then he remembered. "I got in?"

"Yep," said Moony breezily. "You, Eva, Laura and Andy."

Sirius didn't know what to say. He walked calmly past his two best friends towards the Gryfindor noticeboard. They appeared at his shoulder. "Sure you don't need help?" Moony teased. Sirius frowned at him.

"Why are you so happy this morning?" he asked testily. Moony actually chuckled. James smirked.

"Andromeda asked him to go to Hogsmeade with her next weekend," he said. Moony grinned happily. Sirius raised his eyebrows.

"Well, it's about time," he said dryly. "Hang on, when did she ask?"

"At breakfast," James admitted. "I was all for waking you up, but Laura said it would be better to just let you sleep."

"So you're lucky that those two have been hanging around with us," Moony added, "Or you would have been rudely awakened with a wild animal on your chest."

"Hey!" James interjected indignantly. "I thought _you_ were going to jump on him!"

"Well, I was, but that doesn't sound as good," Moony replied. Laura skipped lightly up to them, followed by Lily.

"I don't know," she said, "I think the thought of waking up with you on top of them is enough to strike the fear of Merlin in most people, even the ones that don't know." Moony failed to look offended. An awkward silence stretched for a few seconds.

"When's lunch?" asked Sirius. "I'm starving." Laura laughed.

"Well, you've got about an hour to dwell on that thought," she said smoothly. He scowled. Peter tittered weakly. Sirius looked daggers at him threateningly until he caught the expression on Laura's face and stopped. She kept looking at him critically. He cast around for a new subject.

"Where's Eva?" he asked lamely. Lily giggled.

"She's in the bathroom," she said. "I think she got tired of waiting for you to get up. She wanted to talk to you about something. She said it was important."

Sirius groaned inwardly. Laura stopped looking at him – Eva had been less affectionate after she had seen him and Laura emerge from behind the tapestry that hid the door on Wednesday morning. In fact, she had been so distant with him that he hadn't even been able to tell her what had really happened, which was nothing; he had awoken to find Laura wide awake on the chair next to the bed, smiling at him, and after a few minutes while Sirius woke up properly, they had left. She probably wouldn't have listened to him anyway, he reasoned. She hadn't listened to him last time.

"I'll go and get her," sighed Lily, and skipped off. James watched her go, his mouth slightly open. Laura snorted.

"You'd better make it up with Eva if you want to keep Luckless, Padfoot," she said lightly. "I think Beery wanted you to actually kiss at the end." Moony laughed, almost hysterically. Laura raised an eyebrow at him coolly.

"I hear Andromeda put you in a good mood today," she said. He stopped laughing abruptly, as though afraid that she would tell him it was all a mistake. She smiled kindly. "Congratulations."

He relaxed visibly. "Thanks." There was a noise from the stairs. Sirius looked up to see Lily and Eva come down, the former looking over-patient. He smiled tentatively at Eva. She smiled weakly back.

"Good Morning, Sunshine," he said. Her smile strengthened.

"Actually, it's nearly afternoon," she told him. "You overslept."

"I've been told," Sirius commented dryly. Eva laughed softly. He took her hand.

"Should be just about lunchtime," James said airily.

"Great, I'm starving," Sirius replied enthusiastically, and they started towards the portrait hole.

* * *

December blew wintry winds across the grounds, dusting them with snow, to the delight of the Marauders and the disgust of the teachers. Filch, the caretaker, tried to put everyone in detention for stupid things like not wiping their feet as they came in from outside, but he had learned in the Marauders' second year that putting them in detention was often more trouble than it was worth; so he ignored the snowballs that took to following him around in grumpy silence, causing many a first-year to laugh their way out of a detention as they rapped him on the shivering head.

As Christmas drew nearer, the castle underwent its usual transformation. The suits of armor that littered the halls sprouted Santa-hats and white beards, and sprigs of holly and mistletoe appeared all over the castle. It took the Marauders a considerably longer time than usual to get from class to class, because not only did Moony and Andy insist on stopping under every mistletoe branch, but James often stopped too, to make loud comments to 'no-one in particular' about how Christmas was a time for forgiving, and how "you don't have to be going out as _such_ to kiss under the mistletoe." Lily invariably failed to reply to these remarks, to Sirius' amusement. Eva seemed to have listened to James' remarks, however, and seemed to have forgiven Sirius completely, though her clingy affection hadn't returned quite as strongly as it had been. He began to quite enjoy her company; all thoughts of breaking it off with her took a back seat in his mind. Laura remained in the edge of his vision, but he tried to look at her as a friend, and when that didn't work, not look at her at all. It almost worked – he still got a swooping sensation in his stomach every time she touched him, but he was confident, now, that the feeling didn't reach his face.

Beery kept up a vigorous rehearsal scheme for _The Fountain of Fair Fortune;_ so vigorous, in fact, that Sirius' practices began to outnumber James' Quidditch ones, much to Moony and Peter's disgust. Moony, who frequently came to rehearsals with Andy. Could be heard to complain several times that he knew the play better than any of the rest of them. He had been pulled into the rehearsals, too; playing "the crowd", a giant worm, and even, once, the ailing Asha, when a heavy cold had kept Laura from rehearsal.

Laura's acting continued to rouse violent emotions in Sirius; his reaction to her opening monologue where she introduced her mysterious affliction was only just, after countless retellings, becoming more acting than genuine emotion. Beery also had moments when he couldn't restrain a small noise or burst of applause for her. Andy, too, displayed a side that Sirius had never seen in her with her acting and her vivid description of living in poverty. Eva gladly embraced the role of the lovesick Amata, getting right behind her convincing portrayals and reminiscences.

So the Saturday week before Christmas Eve, when the play was to be performed, found the four of them and Moony in the Great Hall, marching through imaginary gates and up imaginary hills.

"You three have magical powers of a kind I can only dream of," Sirius repeated for the thousandth time, arranging his face into a submissive expression. "I have no chance of beating you to the Fountain. I may as well leave now, and go back to my life outside the garden."

"Faint heart!" Eva exclaimed angrily. "Draw your sword, knight, and help us reach our goal!"

So Sirius pulled the old, rusty sword from his belt and held it bravely in the air.

"Okay, now, pause," Beery interjected quickly. Sirius grimaced. The sword was heavy. "Right, okay. Carry on."

"On, then, and let us not pause until we reach the summit!" And the four actors began to march across the 'stage' – which meant the middle of the Great Hall floor. The play was being done in something called "traverse staging" which no-one but Laura understood. Suddenly Laura, who was leading the party, stopped.

"Alas! Our way is barred!" Sirius struggled to refrain from laughing. There was nothing there, of course. There never was. "How will we pass this horrible worm?"

And here Moony interjected without prompt from the side of the stage with Beery. "_Pay me the proof of your pain."_ Sirius leapt forward gallantly.

"Fear not!" he cried, "I shall slay this vile beast with my sword!" He swung the weapon in a high arc, then dropped it.

"No!" cried Beery. "Don't just drop it, boy! Throw it away from you as if it had bounced off the skin of the worm! Kettleburn's real worm will be in the way if you just drop it! Go again." He took several deep breaths, as if to calm himself down.

"Fear not!" Sirius proclaimed again, leaping forwards. "I shall slay this vile beast with my sword!" He swung the sword over his head and down; lifted it again, and cast it away from him to lie useless by Beery's feet. The teacher grinned buoyantly at him. Eva pulled out her wand and shot red sparks at the 'worm'.

"It is no use! My spells are useless against it!" she exclaimed desperately.

"We'll never make it," Laura sobbed, and sank to her knees, her hands over her face. Sirius' gut twinged with the need to comfort her. Beery clapped compulsively.

"Brilliant! Brilliant! And now the worm takes the tears – so! And you can now continue!" Sirius thought he saw Laura smile behind her hands as she got up slowly and wiped real tears from her eyes.

"The worm is retreating! Now our path is clear! Onward, friends!" Andy cried, and rushed forwards.

"A little slower, dear, let's not forget that there'll be a hill there next week," Beery admonished joyfully. Andy ducked her head.

"At this pace, we will be sure to reach the Fountain before noon!" Sirius exclaimed happily, following the three girls up the 'hill'. Beery, however, stopped them.

"And, no, you won't, because – oh! Look at the time! Let's go over the ending once, quickly, before have to set the Hall up for dinner."

"From where, sir?" Laura asked tiredly. Beery looked at her in concern.

"Sweet Merlin, child, you look exhausted! You sit down, before you collapse! Andromeda, you can sit down too. We'll just run over the proposal once," he said. Sirius nodded as Laura smiled wanly and sat down next to Moony. Andy, obviously not tired at all, skipped over and sat lightly _on_ Moony, who kissed her appreciatively. Sirius heard Eva take a deep breath beside him. "So, Sirius, m'boy, if you could just pretend that that chair next to you there is the Fountain? There we go – from where you jump out."

Sirius stood on the chair tentatively. It creaked, but held his weight. Beery nodded. He jumped off, his feet stinging a little as he landed in all the rusty armor, shaking himself like a wet dog. He clanked over to Eva.

"Amata," he said desperately, throwing himself to his knees at her feet. "You are the most amazing... the most kind... the most beautiful woman I've ever met." Eva took a rushed breath in. Sirius steeled himself and took her hand. "Please, Amata," he continued, turning her hand over in his, "make me truly the most fortunate man in the world. Give me your hand – and your heart – to treasure for all eternity."

Eva smiled, a pure, joyous smile, and placed her other soft, warm hand in his. "You have them both, knight," she replied happily. "You are a worthy keeper for them and I give them to you gladly." She let out a breathy laugh as Sirius ecstatically stood up and took her in his arms, pressing his lips against hers. Her body trembled against him, swept away in the moment. Beery clapped again; Laura, Moony and Andy cheered.

"Brilliant!" Beery repeated. "You two make the perfect ending to the play! The crowd will love you! Now," he clapped his hands in a businesslike way, "Off you go for a while before dinner!" Moony and Andy jumped up, locking their fingers together and making for the door. Laura stood up slowly and looked back at Sirius and Eva. Eva sighed and kissed Sirius lightly.

"I need the bathroom," she said, bouncing off towards the Entrance Hall. "Meet you in the common room?" she asked him. He nodded, moving to stand next to Laura. As Eva skipped out of sight, Laura turned to look at Sirius critically. He glanced at her.

"What?" he said dismissively. She frowned.

"You don't love her, do you?" she asked, starting to walk out of the Hall. He followed her.

"We're sixteen, Laura," he told her. "Love... doesn't have to have much to do with it." She stopped and turned to face him; even though she was a head shorter than him, her disapproval seemed to tower over him. He looked into her eyes and, as usual, began to feel a sense of vertigo, as if they were sucking him into their bottomless red-brown depths. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

There was a scraping and a hollow crash from behind them; Sirius blinked hastily and turned around. Professor Beery was levitating the house tables back to their usual positions in the Great Hall. They stepped out into the Entrance Hall, where the sounds were muffled somewhat.

"But, Sirius," Laura persisted, "you don't even _like_ her that much, do you?"

"I do," he protested indignantly. "Do you think I'd go out with her if I didn't?" She raised an eyebrow critically.

"Sirius," she said placatingly; he shook his head. If she used his name one more time she'd wear it out. "She really loves you, Sirius. You can't just pretend – just let her think that you feel the same about her, because I know that you don't. If she finds out... if someone else has to tell her, it will hurt so much more." She took a shaky breath after this speech. Sirius sighed deeply. Laura was right. Eva was so much more affectionate than he was and he was just letting her believe that he really loved her and concealing the fact that the sight of Laura twisted his stomach into odd shapes. He knew Eva, too; he'd gone out with her two years ago and his disinterest then had ended terribly. He groaned. He hadn't learned a thing back then, had he? He'd made the same mistakes, exactly the same. Why did he have to be so stupid?

"I know, Laura," he said sadly. "So you think I should tell her?" Laura opened her mouth to reply, but closed it abruptly as Beery came chortling past them. He glanced at them and gave a little start.

"Still here, you two? Laura, especially, you should be off to Gryfindor Tower for a bit of a rest!" Laura smiled kindly at him with the air of one explaining to a small child why she wouldn't play.

"I will in a minute, Professor," she said soothingly. He grinned exuberantly back and bounced up the stairs. Laura watched him go, frowning. Then, slowly, she shook her head.

"You can't tell her," she said, lifting her eyes to meet his again. "It would ruin the show."

Sirius thought of the light in Eva's eyes during the proposal scene's numerous rehearsals over the past month. How could he put that out and expect the scene to work without it? But... how could he pretend to her that he wasn't about to, as soon as the final curtain fell? The arguments raced in his mind until he felt cross-eyed from trying to follow them. He put them out loud to Laura. She smiled sympathetically.

"So many people have given everything they have to this panto," she said softly. "Beery would be heartbroken if relationship issues destroyed it now."

Sirius looked at her. Her delicate, freckled face was pale and her soft fingers were shaking slightly. "You know, Beery was right," he said. "You look exhausted." She laughed.

"Wow, how flattering, thanks," she said sarcastically. She yawned. "I am exhausted. Asha's emotions are so vigorous. Even without the fit at the end, she's really tiring to play."

"Maybe you should go and see Madam Pomfrey." She shook her head.

"I'm fine," she said firmly. "I just need to go to bed early tonight." They turned to make their way up the stairs, only to find them blocked. Sirius felt Laura jump slightly beside him.

Regulus stood at the foot of the wide marble staircase. His lip curled at the sight of Sirius, but he arranged his face into a somber expression as he took a step towards Laura.

"Laura," he said, sounding almost relieved. Sirius moved protectively closer to her. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Well, you obviously weren't looking very hard,' she replied coldly, "or you would have thought about what you were doing and started here." He frowned.

"Fine," he said, "but I want to talk to you." She snorted.

"Maybe I don't want to talk to you just now," she said quietly. Regulus took another step forwards.

"Laura, please," he said softly, imploringly. "Please, I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too," she said. Sirius wanted to put his hand on her shoulder, but he didn't want her to throw it off, so he just stood awkwardly next to her, feeling as though he was intruding on something private.

"Laura, I love you," Regulus almost whispered, taking another step forwards and reaching out a hand towards her. "I can't live without you. Please, Laura. I made a mistake, but I'm sorry! I need you, I know that now, I -"she lifted a hand to stop him. He cut off abruptly and watched her, breathing hard, his dark face fearful. Sirius glanced sideways at her. Her face had softened as she looked at the older Seeker, but she shook her head.

"Regulus, there is nothing I want more than for us to go back to the way we were," she said. Sirius' heart hit the pit of his stomach with a sickening thud. Regulus' face brightened. Laura sighed. "But we can't, Regulus. Don't you see that? I don't trust you anymore, and love without trust... isn't love at all." Sirius' stomach gave a kind of back-flip. Regulus made an odd noise; halfway between a growl and a moan.

"But I -"

"Regulus, you heard her," Sirius snarled. "Back off." Regulus looked at Sirius with a face full of loathing.

"I wasn't talking to _you_," he spat, "I don't talk to blood-traitor filth." His lip curled unpleasantly. Sirius opened his mouth to say something scathing back, but Laura held out a hand to stop him

"Just let it go, Regulus," she said shakily. "C'mon, Sirius, Eva will be waiting for us." And she took his arm and led him past the older boy and up the sweeping marble staircase.

As soon as Regulus was out of sight, however, she stopped and leant against the wall. Sirius peered worriedly into her pale face. "Are you okay?" A tear slipped from her deep brown eyes. She wiped it away crossly.

"I'm just tired," she said, but her voice trembled and another tear trailed down her cheek. Sirius stood awkwardly next to her. Should he hug her? "I... just keep remembering what it was like... loving him." She sniffed and wiped her eyes again. Sirius took a tentative step forwards. Then, suddenly, she burst into tears and threw her arms around him, sobbing her heart out against his chest. Sirius breathed in sharply, shocked. It was a minute before he realised what was happening. Laura was hugging him.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, his heart started thumping so loud that there didn't seem to be any chance that she, with her face pressed against his chest, couldn't hear it. He tried to take deep, calming breaths but his pulse quickened as he wrapped his own arms carefully around her and made soothing noises.

After about a minute, Laura's violent sobs subsided and she tightened her grip on Sirius' midriff. Wild thoughts chased each other around his head; she wasn't crying anymore. She was just hugging him – could that mean she – he read that kind of thing in books all the time when they hug someone and then realise that they love them -

Laura sniffed again, then let him go and stepped away. "Sorry," she said, her voice trembling again. "I just needed somebody to hold on to."

Sirius' heart sank slightly. No epiphany, then. "It's okay," he replied offhandedly, trying to sound casual. "Anytime you need me." He cursed himself inwardly for the stupidity of the statement. Laura smiled weakly.

"Oh, Merlin," she gasped, "Eva! We'd better hurry..." and the two of them hastened up the myriad stairs to Gryfindor tower.

"I know it feels really bad, Sirius," she said as they reached the Fat Lady, "but you can't let Eva know how you feel." She grimaced apologetically, then gave the Fat Lady the password.

Eva bounced on them the moment they climbed through the portrait hole. "Where have you two been?" she said, looking suspiciously from Sirius to Laura.

"Sorry, Eva," Sirius said bitterly, "we ran into Regulus."

"Your ex? Oh, sorry. Are you okay?" Laura nodded. They went to join James and Lily, who were standing awkwardly together by a sofa. They sat down. Laura stared blankly into space for a few minutes.

"You know, Regulus and I were doomed from the start," she said pensively. Lily put an arm around her shoulders.

"Why do you say that?" she asked. "You seemed so perfect together."

"We're opposites, aren't we?" she said, looking helplessly around them as if for support. "He's a Slytherin. I'm in Gryfindor. He's a pure-blood from one of the old families. I'm practically a Muggle-born." She looked at Sirius thoughtfully for a few seconds. "Even our names are opposites," she added wonderingly. "Black. Albright."

Sirius tried to smile, but it died on his face. _Black. Albright. _That was him, too... what chance did he have if she thought like that?

Eva sighed happily. "I'm so lucky that I have a boyfriend who loves me," she said, stroking Sirius' hair. His gut wrenched in guilt as he caught Laura's eye, but he forced his face into a smile.

It was going to be a long week.


	9. The Fountain of Fair Fortune

**A/N: I'm starting to feel like a stuck record, the number of times I've said these two things: One, I'm sorry that this chapter took so long, and Two: it amazes me how many people read without reviewing! I can see you all on story traffic, it's actually quite rude what you're doing, and I'm sick of it. Anyway, here's chapter 9, and congratulations and thanks so much to those people who have stuck with it, especially chocolate fish and TorilovesSirius for actually reviewing it! Ily!**

**There was no bang involved in the beginning of this chapter. Sorry. Just a boy and two girls... and a Worm.**

It was so unnatural that it made him even more nervous than he would usually be. The Great Hall seemed oddly full; the tables had disappeared, to make way for the enormous mound of grass rising from the center of the Hall. Instead, huge rises loomed on either side. For the last three hours, the entire cast, including twenty-six extras, had been running up, down and over the hill in frantic last-minute rehearsals. Sirius was starting to get nervous, and he could tell that he wasn't the only one. Eva hadn't stopped talking since dinner yesterday, except when they were rehearsing; Andy had become quiet and withdrawn. Laura seemed normal, but Sirius reasoned that she was more used to performing than the rest of them.

Beery hadn't changed either; he was still joyful and buoyant, and seemed convinced that the show was going to be a success. Five minutes ago, he told them happily that they had an hour before curtain-up – Sirius knew that, he'd been counting down – and they should amuse themselves for that time and try to relax before the curtain rose.

"Why does he keep calling it curtain-up/" Eva said sulkily, throwing herself down on the grass next to him. "There is no stupid curtain. There's audience on both sides." Sirius grunted.

"I think it's just an actor's term. They're creatures of habit, apparently." She gave a tinkling little laugh, then reached up and stroked his hair. He shied away. He _really_ wasn't in the mood for her fondling. All week, he hadn't been in the mood for her at all.

"Don't you like me doing that?" She asked plaintively. He shrugged. "No, tell me, Siri. If you don't like it, tell me and I'll stop doing it." Sirius took a deep breath.

"I don't like you doing that, Eva," he said levelly.

"Oh," she said. "Sorry. Do you still love me?" She edged closer to him, watching him intently. He closed his eyes. _No,_ he thought desperately, _I never loved you, but please, don't make me say it. I can't lie to you, Eva, but the truth would kill everyone in this stupid show..._

"Siri? Do you love me?" _I'm not Siri,_ an edge of irritation popped into his frantic thoughts, _and please, please don't make me answer that -_

"Sirius! Why won't you answer me?" He opened his eyes and looked at her. _Just say it,_ he told himself, _just one more lie. _But the words wouldn't come. "You don't, do you? Oh my God, Sirius!" He sighed. It was as good as done now. He might as well be honest with her.

"No, Eva, I don't _love _you," he said, as softly as he could, hoping that she would mis-hear him, or at least match his volume with her response. Guilt rolled over him in waves. "Not like you love me." He flinched, expecting her to scream and yell and maybe even hit him, but she didn't. She didn't even move. Sirius looked at her. She was very pale.

"I should have known," she said quietly. "I was so wrapped up in loving you that I couldn't even see that you didn't love me back..." She looked up at him. "But you didn't make it obvious, did you?" she said bitterly. "You never told me – you could've just taken me quietly aside and told me to back off a bit, but no, you just let me think that you loved me!" her voice rose hysterically. Sirius looked around; Beery wasn't in the room.

"Eva -" he began, but she cut him off.

"I must have looked like such a fool! How could you do this to me? Luckless... _heart_less, more like! Oh, Merlin..." and she jumped up and ran from the Hall, her hands over her face, sobbing. Sirius watched her go, feeling more worthless than he'd ever felt before. Why hadn't he just said it? Those three words that always seemed so easy to say when it was somebody else saying them, yet always failed to cross his own lips.

As he thought this, he found himself looking up at Laura, paused in a conversation with Lily halfway up the hill (Lily had joined James, Moony and Peter as extras) to watch Eva's flight. She was the first one who had ever brought those words to his mind without speaking them herself. The first girl he had ever hidden his attentions from, rather than strutting up to them and making it clear. What did he lose from telling her? If she didn't like him back – and how could she, after Regulus – then he would only go back to what he was doing now, so what did he have to lose?

_Hope._ The hope that there was even the slightest chance she felt the same. He would lose that.

What did hope matter anyway? He was being a coward. He was being like Peter, the part of Peter that he didn't like. He couldn't stand for that.

"You told her, didn't you?"

Sirius jumped. Laura stood beside him, looking down at him calmly. He sighed.

"She asked me," he said heavily. "She asked me if I loved her. I'm already being so horrible to her, I couldn't blatantly lie to her like that. So I just didn't answer and... she drew her own conclusions."

She let out a long breath. "Damn," she said softly. "I can't blame you. I would've done the same. I'll go find her – are you still okay to do this?" He sighed again, then nodded. As if he had a choice. Laura smiled sympathetically and followed Eva out of the Hall.

James came over. "How you doing, Padfoot?" he asked cheerfully. "Nervous?"

"Terrified, now," Sirius replied. "I just... broke up with Eva. Now we don't know if she'll do the play – it could be a disaster, I can't believe this is happening."

James sat down. "Well, you lasted a month," he said reasonably. "That's not bad, for you." Sirius looked at him.

"Thanks, Prongs," he said dryly, "but this one was worse than all the others combined. I was just using her. I've never done that before. I feel so bad..." James frowned as Sirius trailed away.

"Using her how?" he asked.

"I just... wanted... I don't know," he said, "but I... liked Laura more the whole time." James laughed.

"You liked her? And she was going out with Regulus?" Srius nodded, waiting for James to laugh. "And then she broke up with him and you _still_ didn't tell her you liked her? Padfoot, what's happened to you? At least Evans knows I'm keen on her."

"Keen on her?" Sirius asked derisively, "You mean head over heels for her! And no offence, but I don't see that helping you."

James waved the comments aside. "Do you still like her?"

Sirius paused for a second as Laura and Eva came back into the Hall. Laura caught Sirius' eye and did a thumbs-up sign. He grinned back at her. "Yup," he said to James.

"Then what are you waiting for? Padfoot, you're the hottest guy in our year. Probably the sexiest guy at Hogwarts! Just go up to her and tell her? What can she possibly say?" Sirius snorted. Laura wasn't like his other 'girlfriends'. She was different; that was the reason he liked her – no, _like_ was too passive a word – _loved_ her like he'd never felt before.

"Come on, Padfoot, are you a dog or are you a mouse?" He laughed and stood up.

"I have to go and talk to Eva," he said breezily. James grinned.

Eva's eyes were slightly red-rimmed, but from far away she looked perfectly normal. She looked up at him, her blue orbs wide. He smiled tentatively. She didn't smile back.

"Eva, I'm so sorry," he said huskily. "I would've told you, but I thought you'd flip out and I didn't want to ruin the show when everyone has been working so hard, and, Eva, I know that's no excuse and I feel so bad…" he trailed away again. Eva looked away.

"Let's just get this over with," she said, her face turned determinedly away from him. "Then we can get on with our lives." And she walked away, leaving Sirius and Laura alone.

Sirius took a deep breath. He was going to tell her. He _was_. He just had to open his mouth and say it. _Are you a dog or a mouse?_

"Laura," he said timidly. She had been about to walk away, but she stopped and looked up at him.

"Yeah?" she asked, almost whispering. As he opened his mouth, to say what, exactly, he wasn't sure, the thousands of candles floating above them went out and the Great Hall was plunged into darkness. Sirius heard Laura gasp and a buzz of noise struck up.

"Sirius?" she whispered, and he felt her hand on his arm.

"I'm here," he replied, not daring to raise his voice above a whisper. Her hand moved up his arm to his shoulder.

"What did you want to tell me?" she asked. He took another deep breath.

"I… I never loved Eva because… there was someone else." His heart struck up a drumroll against his chest. He heard Laura take a step closer.

"Yeah?" He could hear her breathing now, as well as his own.

"It was you," he told her quickly, hearing her breath catch as he said it. "It's still you. It's always been you. I love you, Laura." He felt strangely out of breath, in suspense. His fingers twitched slightly. She wasn't saying anything. She was probably trying to think of a way to let him down nicely, he reasoned sadly, but he still couldn't let out his breath that was held in check, as though the whole world waited while he did for her answer.

"Really?" she whispered softly; the lack of a definite rejection sent thrills up and down his spine. "Really _love_ me?"

"Yes," he said earnestly. "I've never said that to anyone before. I've never _felt_ like this before. You… you're so different from all the other girls," he finished lamely. Her hand left her shoulder and took the insides of his stomach with it.

"Oh, Sirius," she said, and he heard her voice shake. "Once upon a time that would have disgusted me. But now…" Sirius thought he heard her shake her head. He began to feel, as though from outside his body, a grin creep over his face.

The candles above the rises slowly flared back into half-light; Sirius found he could see Laura's hand, inches from his face. She was smiling.

"I love you, too, Sirius," she whispered. He fingers met his cheek: she stroked it softly. "I love you." She laughed.

A burst of wild happiness flooded through Sirius. The dog-like instincts he had inherited swelled in him; his mad desire to bowl her over and lick her face made him laugh, too; her arms rested around his neck and without caring who might be watching them, he took her firmly in his arms and kissed her.

He felt like he could have taken on Voldemort himself, with all the Death Eaters in the world behind him, if only Laura would not let go of him, like he wouldn't let his arms loosen around her, not for the world, or anything else.

The door of the Great Hall flew open with a _bang_; harsh light flooded through and illuminated the slope of the hill. Tucked away in a pocket of shadow on the other side of the hill, Sirius and Laura broke apart. They watched as Professor Kettleburn limped into the Hall, a small wooden box in his hands.

"Do you think that's our worm?" asked Laura. Sirius frowned.

"Bit small, don't you think?" he replied. She laughed.

"Make it bigger, then," she said incredulously. "Are we wizards or not?" He laughed too. She checked the watch on her arm hurriedly. "Ten minutes," she breathed.

Kettleburn was followed into the Hall, in trickles and bursts, by the rest of the school. Sirius' heart began to pound again. "Nervous?" Laura asked teasingly. He grimaced.

"I'm supposed to do the macho thing and say no," he said. She laughed.

"Déjà vu," she told him. "Why is it always you?"

"Because I'm so cool and popular and good-looking," he joked.

"And modest," she rejoined happily. Sirius smiled at her for a while.

"Cast over here," came Beery's whispering voice from the other side of the Hall. Sirius' gut twisted again. Laura fumbled for his hand, squeezed it, and skipped over the hill. He took another deep breath, and followed her.

"Right," he said enthusiastically, rubbing his hands together like a child in a sweet-shop. "Five minutes 'till these candles above us light up! How are you all feeling? Especially my main four!" They all made vague noises of assent. He grinned. "Excellent. Now, the most important thing to remember is that you're _frozen_ until the lights are up _fully_. They'll take a while to come up. Watch me, okay? I'll nod when you're to start moving. All right? Everyone got that? Good – where's Eva?" He looked at Sirius concernedly. He shrugged, trying to look innocent.

"I'm here, sir," she said from behind him with Alice Walker, who had also joined up as an extra. No doubt they had been having an in-depth conversation about his shortcomings. Alice had been Sirius' first girlfriend, way back in second year.

"Oh, right. Are you alright, dear?" She nodded. He mimicked the gesture. "Excellent," he said again. "Well… positions, everyone! One minute to go!" And he bustled his bulk off the stage to sit in the middle of the first row of seats. Sirius turned around and gasped in fright; the hill had vanished, to be replaced by two enormous wrought-iron gates. James laughed at him.

"Jumpy, now, are we?" he clapped him hard on the back. "Break a leg tonight, Padfoot. I know you'll be brilliant." Sirius grinned.

"I'm always brilliant. You're just jealous because all the girls will go for me after this," he said dismissively.

"All but the one you want…" teased James. Sirius felt another manic smile twist his face.

"Actually, Prongs, Laura likes me," he said, sticking his nose up in the air. "I talked to her." James gave him another clout on the back.

"Hate to say, I told you so, mate," he said sagely.

"But you did," Sirius finished. "Yeah, whatever. Hey –" James had begun to walk away to his position in the crowd, but he looked back. "Thanks, Prongs." James grinned and shook his head. Sirius weaved through everyone else to get to the back of the crowd.

The audience lights went down slowly. Sirius' gut twisted and his heart pounded. His breathing quickened. The door of the Great Hall was shut with a _bang_. There were a few seconds' hushed silence, in which Sirius could only hear the sound of his own breathing. Then, painfully slowly, the candles above the stage flared into life. Sirius flicked his black eyes to look at Beery, who nodded.

With a sudden burst of noise, all 30 people crowded onto the Great Hall floor rushed into life. The show had begun.

The first 15 minutes of the pantomime went as smoothly as oiled clockwork. Everybody played their way through the opening monologues and starting conversations. Then the lights faded again for the one and only scene change as the gates popped out of existence and the grass swelled significantly towards the blacked-out ceiling. Sirius bumped into several extras fleeing the stage as he made his way to the edge of it. He heard a muffled whisper: _Engorgio!_ Before the lights rose again and Sirius clanked onto the stage with Laura, Eva and Andy.

"We've made it!" Andy exclaimed breathlessly. "Our path to the Fountain is clear!"

"Amata," Laura said questioningly, throwing herself forwards, "who is this knight?"

Sirius shied away nervously. Eva frowned. "Forgive me, Asha," she said solemnly, "but my robe must have caught on this knight's armour and dragged him into the garden."

"Ah, Amata," Andy scolded. "You ought to be more careful! We will have difficulty enough deciding which of us will bathe in the Fountain's waters without this knight wanting a share as well!" Eva hung her head. Sirius moved forwards.

"You three have magical powers of a kind I can only dream of. I have no chance of beating you to the Fountain. I may as well leave now, and go back to my life outside the garden," he said dejectedly. Eva stamped her foot.

"Faint heart!" she said angrily. "Draw your sword, Knight, and help us reach our goal!" Sirius raised his rusty sword and held it in the air for a few seconds, smiling triumphantly.

"On, then, and let us not stop until we reach the summit!" It continued like this, vigorous and exactly as it had in rehearsals, until the part that required the 'worm' to co-operate.

Sirius glanced at it worriedly as it raised red eyes to him. He was sure he'd seen a worm like that somewhere before – but where? Why were all his senses screaming at him to get away from it? He frowned at Eva, trying to make it look desperate to fit in with the scene, but communicate his fears at the same time. She returned his look.

"We'll never make it," Laura cried, and, unaware of what was going on between the other actors, collapsed on her knees before the monstrous creature. Sirius looked at it again. It seemed almost dusty, as though it had been rolling around in a pit of ash- _ash!_

He started forwards, panic rolling around his stomach in nauseating waves. Her name escaped desperately from his lips, a hopeless call in a bid to warn her to get away –

"Laura! Don't–"

The Ashwinder, such as it was, exploded in an enormous shower of dust and sparks. Laura shrieked and jumped away from it, clutching her arms. Sirius caught her up and held her close, letting relief wash over him. She was safe.

"Are you all right?" he asked softly. She looked up at him; he saw with a shock that her face was slightly burnt. She tried to smile, then winced.

"I just got a bit burnt, that's all," she whispered. "But, Sirius, the show –" She was cut off by Eva. Eva's shrill, high voice cutting through the sensitive moment and sending a thrill of horror and through Sirius.

"_You!_" It wasn't just a yell, it was a shriek, a screech of betrayal that jarred Sirius' bones and set his teeth on edge. "You stole my boyfriend, you bitch!" Sirius clutched Laura tighter to him, but she pulled away.

"Eva," she began placatingly, "Eva, please –"

"I trusted you!" Eva screamed hysterically, "All those times I saw the two of you alone together, and I just let myself believe you were just – I can't believe you could do that! I _trusted _you – and you betrayed me! _Fernunculus!_"

Laura narrowly dodged the curse, but Eva sent a Stunning spell after it. Sirius blocked it, blaringly aware that the audience had started talking loudly behind them. He caught someone's conversation: "Is this part of it?"

"I don't think so. It's just Sirius Black changing girls again."

"Ruined the show, then."

And then, louder than all of them, he heard the soft sound of an implosion. Harsh, rough light flared around the Hall, casting fiery shadows across the wooden walls.

Wood. The whole room was made of wood. And, somewhere on the other side of the hill, something was on fire.

Someone in the audience screamed. Then suddenly everyone was doing it until the Great Hall was full of it, so loud that Sirius wanted to curl up into a ball with his hands clamped over his ears; but in front of him, Eva was still firing curses at Laura, _his_ Laura, and no matter how good it felt to finally be able to call her his own, she seemed reluctant to curse Eva back, so if no-one intervened, she was going to get badly hurt.

"Ladies, please!" Beery leapt in between the two, but one of Eva's spells hit him full in the face and he blundered away again with his hands over his swelling nose. Sirius suddenly had to struggle not to laugh. The doors to the Great Hall had been thrown open and Prefects were ushering the students hurriedly through the doors. Sirius looked for Moony, but couldn't see him in the swarm of people struggling to get away from the burning floorboards that were sending thick, stinging smoke up to the darkened ceiling.

Another Stunning spell shot past Sirius' ear. He yelped and ducked as another one nearly hit his other ear.

A soft laugh sounded in his ear. "Trouble?" James' grinning face greeted him. He grimaced.

"A little," he admitted casually. "Where's Moony?" James looked around worriedly.

"He ditched his Prefect duties to find Andy," he said. "You know, I think he really likes her."

"Yeah, well," Sirius replied hurriedly, "Time enough to think later. We've got to get out of here without getting burnt and without Eva killing Laura. Any ideas?"

"Stun Eva?" James suggested. Sirius laughed.

"That's what I said, but Laura won't."

"Then we'll just have to run, and hope," said James matter-of-factly.

"Fine," said Sirius, more confidently than he felt. "Where's Wormy?"

"Right here," James replied in surprise, gesturing to the open air next to him. "Oh. Well, he was right behind me… must have left with the others."

At that moment, thaws a thud, a crash, and with a roar, the whole wall where the Gryfindor table used to stand became a raging inferno. As it did, Sirius distinctly heard Peter Pettigrew scream.

A wave of cold washed over him. "I think we found Wormy," he whispered. James went pale.

"We've got to get out of here," he said firmly. He jerked his head tat the now fiercely dueling girls. "You deal with them," he told Sirius, who felt resolution settle grimly in his stomach. James put on a brave face and turned it towards the inferno. "Ill get Wormy."

"Good luck, Prongs," e said shortly, as James determinedly rushed off. Sirius turned to Laura and Eva, fear for his friends roiling in his heart.

"Stop!" he yelled, but Eva ignored him and Laura had to block her next spell before she looked at him. "_STOP!"_

Finally, Eva lowered her wand. Sirius allowed himself a sigh of relief. "Eva, I know you're angry, I would be too, but you're wrong about Laura. Nothing was happening between us until after I told you –" She whipped her wand up suddenly to point between his eyes. "Eva! Come on! I'm sorry, I feel terrible, but this –"

The roaring that filled the Great Hall intensified. Sirius looked up just in time to see the floorboards in front of the door erupt into flames. Laura swore. "But, Eva, this isn't the time! We have to get out of here before the whole thing goes up!"

"What on earth are you three still doing in here?"

Sirius jumped in fright; Dumbledore was very good at sneaking up on people. "Professor! We were - just leaving, sir," he said demurely.

"I should think so, and quickly," Dumbledore countered.

"Yes, sir. Sir, did you see Prongs and Wormy leave?"

"Sorry?"

"James and Peter. Did you see them leave?"

"No -" Sirius swore violently and sprinted in their direction.

"Sirius Orion Black, what do you think you're doing?" Dumbledore called after him, but he didn't reply.

"Laura, get out!" he threw over his shoulder, but he didn't have time to see if she was obeying. He reached the part of the Hall that was a raging inferno, feeling the heat blast his face. He stopped. there was no sign of the other two.

"James!" he shouted, ducking as the fire cracked ominously. "JAMES!"

"Padfoot..." James emerged from the flames about a meter away from him. "I can't get him out." Desperation coloured his voice. Sirius went cold despite the fire still pressing its warmth against his face. He dashed to the spot that James was gesturing wildly towards and, sure enough, Peter was trapped under a desk in the middle of the inferno.

"Merlin's sweet hairy bollocks!" Sirius cursed. "How does he manage to do that?"

"I don't know," James replied panickily, "but I can't shift it!" There was a _crack_, and a spark bounced onto the desktop and set it alight. Peter, though unconscious, whimpered. James panicked.

"Oh, Merlin," he said, hopping from foot to foot, "Oh, God, oh God, Oh God..."

"James, shut up!" Sirius snapped, fighting the panic rising like bile inside his own chest while the flames crept closer to Peter's. "_Reducto!_"

The desk exploded, showering the three of them with sparks. Sirius yelped as a burning ember landed in his smoke-scarred eye. "Oh, God," said James as the flames leapt higher, "Oh, God..."

"Help me, you idiot, don't just stand there!" he edged carefully around Peter's prone body wincing as the intense heat from the fire inches away from him beat down on his back. "Grab his hands, " Sirius instructed, picking up Peter's feet.

James hesitantly obeyed, and the two of them carried Peter, painfully slowly, towards the leaping flames obstructing the door to the Entrance Hall. "How are we going to get through?" James asked shrilly. Sirius looked around wildly, In desperation to get out of the Hall, he began to feel dangerously reckless.

"You go," he told James suddenly. "You go quickly, and I'll take Wormtail." James' hazel eyes widened fearfully.

"But, Padfoot -"

"Just go!" James stared at him for a few seconds, then nodded reluctantly. he silently helped to shift Peter's entire weight into Sirius' arms. For a small, ratty boy, Peter was enormously heavy. Sirius grimaced. James gave him one last look.

"Padfoot -"

"Just _go!_" Sirius snapped impatiently back. James hesitated, then broke the eye contact and jumped through the fire. Sirius took a deep breath, (he had lost count of how many times he'd done that in the past few hours) feeling fear pulse through him with each beat of his heart. Then he staggered forwards.

He couldn't move any faster than a stagger, not with Peter in his arms. The panic rose like bile in his stomach as one foot hit the floor that was already violently on fire.

Pain screamed up his leg as the clothes underneath his armour caught fire. Sirius bit his tongue to stop that from screaming too, but he wanted to scream, needed to scream, as if somehow letting the sound rip from his throat would dull the pain tearing up both legs as he placed the other one in the middle of the inferno. he didn't know how long the band of fire stretched, but he hoped it wasn't much longer as smoke and flames stung his eyes and forced them shut, and darkness gathered at the edges of his mind...

It seemed as though he were engulfed in the flames for an eternity, so long that the pain became bearable and he began to feel selfless, like he was becoming a part of the fire itself. All he knew was Peter's lifeless form clutched in his deadened arms, and he clung to it as if it were his own life as he moved far too slowly through the inferno until finally the fire stopped suddenly and Sirius, released of its embrace, was overwhelmed by rather the same feeling as if he had just been released from the grip of someone who had been holding him upright. He swayed for a minute, then the last thing he heard was James calling for help before the black clouds at the edge of his vision closed in on him.

**A/N: The people around me in my computer programming class have requested that I dedicate this chapter to Sean Sutton, a.k.a Peter File (get it? Pedophile?), the small ginger boy who dropped his icecream. Sorry, Sean... XD! **

**Anywho, I'd like to publish the first chapter of **_**Quiet**_**, my next chapter fic, possibly, before I finish the next chapter of this. However, I've been thinking about chapter 10 since I was writing, like, chapter 6, so it shouldn't be too long. But don't try and hold me to that, I seem to remember saying that this chapter wouldn't be too long. It wasn't my fault, guys; my computer's HDD broke. **

**Now all that's left for you to do is press that review button and make a desperate girl very happy.**

**-for you.**


	10. Christmas on the Closed Ward

**A/N: I know, it's been so long you'd forgotten I existed. Well, not only do I have another 2 chapters written to type and therefore should be updating fortnightly at the least, I've made a deal with myself that I have to write a chapter of this for every chapter of my other fic, so looking good there... I also have to say that the quality of this and the next chapter is not brilliant, but bear with me, chapter 13 is back to my usual. Oh, and I'm having keyboard issues, so please forgive any typos (or log into my account and change them, chocolate fish...) Good to be back, enjoy!**

**-for you!**

Sirius awoke to a pounding headache. Sharp, grating pains rewarded his every move. He groaned, keeping his eyelids tight shut. Then a slight weight pressed against his chest, and a sweet voice lilted very close to his ear.

"Good morning, Sunshine."

Slowly, he opened his eyes, wincing at the flood of bright white light as it pressed against him. It was forever before his eyes finally adjusted to the harsh morning. Laura sat on the edge of his bed, her face smiling kindly, her hand pressed lightly against his chest. He grinned at her.

"We've been here before, haven't we?" he said, remembering the day a few short months ago when he had awoken to her last. Her smile broadened. She nodded sedately.

"You seem to have a bit of a thing for getting yourself into trouble, don't you?" she said teasingly, her hand stroking his chest.

Then the full reality of it hit him. She was his, really his, she loved him and he loved her and they could stay together forever because they were all that mattered…

"Laura?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you." The words flowed from his mouth so easily! Those words he had evaded for so long were so simple to say after all.

She smiled. "I love you too," she said, and lay down on the bed next to him, wrapping her arms around him. He held her close, unable to stop a blissful grin from spreading over his face at the knowledge that she was his, his at last, and they could stay there as long as they liked because nothing could ever tear them apart; she belonged to him and he would never ever let her go.

Even in his contentment, Sirius' head felt like it was about to explode. "I feel terrible," he said heavily.

She snorted into his chest. "No shit, Sherlock."

He frowned. "Who the hell is Sherlock?"

"Sherlock Holmes! The detective?" he tried to shrug. She sat up and looked at him incredulously. "You don't know who Sherlock Holmes is?"

He struggled to sit up. "No. Should I?" She stared at him for a few seconds, then her shoulders slumped in realization and she shook her head.

"Man, you must have had a deprived childhood."

Sirius laughed derisively. "You have no idea," he told her, "One day, you should meet my parents." She looked at him sadly for a minute before helping him sit up on his pillows and leaning against him.

"I guess you never had Barney, either," she said sadly. Sirius snorted.

"What's that, a great-uncle?" He felt her shake her head against his chest.

"I can't believe you've never heard of Barney…" she began humming a cute, kindergarten-type melody.

"_I love you,  
You love me,  
We're a happy family  
With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you  
Won't you say you love me too?"_

He chuckled, then yawned. For the first time since he had awoken, wrapped up as he was in his joy and love for Laura, he looked around him.

He was in the hospital wing. He'd guessed that much. The beds around them were _all_ full, and a distinct smell of woodsmoke filled the air. Outside the bay windows that lined the ward, the pale pink of dawn had only just begun to peer over the distant hills on the horizon. A few people turned restlessly in their beds and groaned helplessly. "Why are you here?" Sirius asked. "You should be in a bed here, or at least in a bed in your dormitory. Look how early it is."

"Madam Pomfrey gave me a cream to fix the burns on my face and said she'd ordinarily keep me overnight, but after 'that foolish Professor Kettleburn,'" she put on a high voice that sounded uncannily like Madam Pomfrey, "blew up the Hall, she didn't have enough room for me to stay, so I could go. I told her I'd rather just stay with you."

"How did she take that?" Sirius asked, grinning at the thought of the matron's face.

"She looked at me like I'd just shoved half a lemon down her throat, but she probably figured she couldn't stop me." He smiled and wrapped his arms around her. "Oh, and Merry Christmas," she added happily.

Sirius started. Of course! It was Christmas Day! As he realized this, the wide doors to the hospital wing slowly inched open. Three house-elves wearing Hogwarts togas and positively laden with presents of all sizes surreptitiously crept in. The poor things looked as though they were about to crumple under their massive burdens. Sirius almost laughed; they looked rather comical. The first one placed a sizeable pile at the foot of Sirius' bed.

"Thanks, Squeaky," he said.

"You're welcome, Master Sirius," the elf squeaked. "Miss Albrite's are there too."

"Thank you," Laura said. "And Merry Christmas."

The elf bowed its head. "And to you, Miss," he said. He shifted the pile of presents on his shoulder and tottered off.

"How did you know its name?" Laura asked, sitting up properly and looking at him.

"James and I have been in the kitchen millions of times," he replied. "We know most of them by name. Hey Polly!" he called to a female elf currently unloading presents onto Cyndi MacMillian's bed. Se turned around. "Merry Christmas!"

Laura laughed. Within moments, he house-elves had left the room. Dawn slowly began to illuminate the ward as it wakened into life around them. Madam Pomfrey bustled out of her office and, seeing that Sirius was awake, made her way over to him.

"You're awake, are you?" she said sniffily, bustling around him and applying some sort of potion.

"Guess so," Sirius replied brightly. "Merry Christmas, Madam Pomfrey." She did sniff this time.

"Yes, and a fine Christmas I'm going to have with this lot," she replied, waving an arm at the full ward. Sirius was struck by a very strong suspicion that she blamed him.

"It's not his fault," Laura said indignantly. She tutted.

"_He_ was," the matron said, pointing at a bed near the door. Sirius thought that it was Professor Beery, but he couldn't be sure, the Herbology teacher's head had swelled so big. "I've tried everything, I can't get it to go down."

Sirius tried, and failed, to suppress a laugh. Madam Pomfrey gave him a disapproving look, which he ignored. He began to run his hands through Laura's hair, taking comfort when she snuggled into his chest. The matron tutted again.

"Madam Pomfrey?" Laura asked. "Could you put some Christmas music on, please?" The matron gave them a look as though there was nothing she'd like to do less, but a few minutes after she bustled away, _God Rest Ye, Merry Hippogriffs_ could be heard playing through the ward. Laura laughed. "What's this, a remake of the Muggle version? Original, you wizards, aren't you?"

"Hey," Sirius said in mock-indignation. "You're one of us now, so no insults." She laughed again, and somehow her lips found his; everything else became obsolete as she shifted her slight weight over him and her tongue began darting between his teeth; he couldn't help thinking how perfect it was, no matter how many people out of the large fraction of Hogwarts ensconced in the hospital wing were watching them.

The song tinkling cheerfully on behind them would always remind Sirius of blissful, all-consuming happiness now.

There was a slight cough from behind them. "Not interrupting anything, are we?" came James' drawling voice.

"_Prongs,_" hissed Moony, and even though Sirius hadn't opened his eyes yet, he could see the werewolf's pointed look in his mind's eye. Friends, he thought; sometimes they make you laugh, sometimes they make you cry, and sometimes they make you want to jump on them and strangle them…

Laura pulled away from him. He reluctantly let her go and turned to face his two best friends in the whole world. "Merry Christmas," he said smoothly.

Moony grinned, mirth sparkling in his grey eyes. "You, too," he said. "Sorry about _him_," he rolled his eyes at James, who had found Peter's bed by the door and was noisily attempting to wake him up. "He felt a bit lonely this morning." Sirius snorted. "Are you two going to open those, or were you too busy?"

"Oh," Laura said happily. "I'd forgotten about them." Moony laughed lightly.

"Oh, and thanks for the puzzles," he said, his eyes smiling kindly at her. Sirius saw her smile back, a similar expression in her eyes.

"You're welcome," she replied cheerfully. "I thought you'd like them."

"James liked the paddle thing, too," he said, glancing back to where James was now enthusiastically helping Peter sit up. "He played with it for at least half an hour before I decided it was safe to come up here." Laura grinned, watching James and Peter fondly.

"He's such a little kid," she laughed. "Does he ever stop moving?"

"I think he did once," Sirius said thoughtfully. "That time at Peter's…"

"That was because you strapped him to the bed," Moony pointed out.

"Oh." Laura giggled. "Yeah. That's right." Peter finally managed to stammer out something that made James back away hurriedly. "Merry Christmas, Wormy," Sirius said cheerfully. Peter coughed weakly and nodded.

"How are you feeling?" Laura asked. "You were caught in the worst of it, weren't you?"

"Yeah, I'd been wanting to ask you that myself," Sirius said conversationally. "How in Merlin's name did you manage to get yourself stuck under a _desk_ in the middle of a fire when there usually aren't even any desks in the Great Hall?"

Moony snorted, then forced his face into a sober expression. "Sorry," he said, with an expression like he was having trouble keeping a straight face. "It's not funny. Peter?"

Peter sniffed. "I don't know how I got there. I don't find trouble. It just… finds me."

"Spoken like a true Marauder, my friend," James said proudly. "Trouble follows us around like… like a secret admirer."

"Like Eva," Laura said, laughing. James laughed too, and suddenly Sirius found himself joining in, even though laughing at Eva's expense was the last thing he felt like doing, and once he started he couldn't stop, and within moments, Remus and Peter were doing it too, and all the emotions, the tensions between them evaporated and they became consumed by the laughter that bounced between them.

The joke wasn't even that funny, Sirius thought, helpless with laughter. It just felt so good to laugh like this, like they hadn't done in ages, and forget for a moment that last night was the second time this year that Sirius had almost died. So good to forget everything except the fact that they were still there, the Marauders, and now, finally, Laura.

What felt like ages later, Sirius wiped tears of mirth from his eyes and coughed. "That felt good," Moony pointed out happily. The statement brought one last harsh bark of laughter from James' throat.

"You don't do it enough, Moony," he croaked, standing up from where the laughter had dumped him on the hospital wing floor.

"Perhaps not," Moony rebutted, "but you do it too much."

"How can you possibly do that too much?" James asked, rubbing his behind ruefully. He'd landed on it rather hard, thought Sirius.

"Well, the way _you_ do it, your arse must be bruised all over," he pointed out dryly. James just shrugged. Sirius went back to what he had been doing before: opening a present wrapped in hot pink paper, marked in silver ink with _To Sirius, From Laura._

The wrapping fell away to reveal – Sirius didn't know what it was. It was a cube that fit neatly into his palm, made up of smaller squares. Each side was coloured differently. Coloured lights flashed at him briefly.

"Thanks, Laura," he said slowly. She looked up at him surprisedly, then saw the box in his hands.

"Oh! You're welcome." She turned back to her own presents.

"What… what is it?" She giggled and took it from him.

"It's called _Rubik's Cube Revolution_. It's like a Muggle puzzle. You mix the sides up," she began rotating rows of the smaller squares, "and the aim is to get them all back to the way they were. This one's cool," she said, flashing him a grin, "it makes noises." Sirius jumped as a grainy fanfare erupted violently from the cube. He grinned too.

"Cool," he said, envisioning the fun he was going to have annoying Moony with it. As he looked up, he noticed that the werewolf seemed to be thinking along the same line. He chuckled and took the cube back from Laura.

"How long before you find it mysteriously broken?" James whispered.

"A week?" Sirius suggested hopefully. James raised a doubtful eyebrow.

"I'm giving you 'till Wednesday."

Sirius grinned. And for a moment, one shining moment, nothing else mattered. He could deal with Eva, with the people out there who thought that the still-packed hospital wing was his fault, with everything else he was going to get this school year, as long as Laura's arms stayed around him and he and James could still laugh at Moony together.

Things were going to be all right.

* * *

Later that night, James Potter lay awake, listening to the sounds of Peter snoring. He wasn't tired; he was bored.

"Moony," he whispered, "are you asleep?"

A grunt. "Yep."

"Oh." James frowned. You could never tell if Moony was being sarcastic or not, and James knew that people sometimes sleep-talked in ways that made sense; his father, for example, could hold a perfectly rational conversation in his sleep. "Really?"

A laugh. "No, James."

"Oh." He paused. "I'm going to see Sirius." He sat up decisively, throwing off his blankets. He heard the sound of Moony sitting up too.

"James, don't," the werewolf said sharply.

"Why not?"

"He's with Laura." Perhaps he sensed that James was about to say 'so?': he kept talking. "How would you feel if Lily Evans was finally yours and the two of you were alone together, and then Sirius came bursting in?"

James considered this. "I'd probably sock him one," he admitted. "But they're in the _hospital wing_, Moony, what are they going to be doing? And besides, it's Padfoot. The situations are completely different."

There was silence for a minute, and James took that for Moony's assent. Just as he was about to get up, however, his friend spoke again, mild disbelief colouring his voice. "You can't honestly tell me you didn't notice, James Potter."

"Notice what, Remus Lupin?"

Moony sighed. "Laura isn't like all the others, James. He really likes her, has done since about a week after school started this year. He's actually serious about her."

James knew Moony was scolding him for not noticing what was happening to his best friend. He _had_ noticed something was different, thinking back to their conversation the day before, but it was so unlike Sirius that he'd dismissed the idea. Could it be true? Could Sirius really feel about Laura the way he felt about Lily Evans?

He decided to give the idea a chance and slumped back into bed. About an hour later, he drifted off to sleep amid imagined scenes where he pulled Lily from a blazing fire and she fell madly in love with him…

**A/N: Please review or I'll lose motivation again, and you now know the full scope of what that does to me. I will also email a picture of a cookie or a cake to evryone who reviews (trying a new tactic; empty threats weren't working) so indicate your preference... Next chapter should be soon, until then, _a_****diós**!

**_-for you_**


	11. Coming of Age

**A/N: It's very odd. I distinctly remember writing this in ICT, which means I must have written it last year. I apologise once again. I promise the plot and quality of the writing will pick itself up next chapter (which I've finished so you might well see tomorrow, I'm procrastinating with my massive Legal Studies project.). Anyway. I bought myself a new keyboard this morning, so hopefully there'll be less typos. Anyway - enjoy and PLEASE review!**

**-for you!**

Weeks and months blurred into each other at Hogwarts. Suddenly time could only be measured by the size and contents of the sixth-year homework pile. As the year wore on, the Marauder pile came to take up the whole table, _and_ the floor around it.

"This isn't fair," James sighed finally, throwing down his quill in disgust. "It's my birthday in three days and I won't even be able to enjoy it! I'll have all of this hanging over me, taunting me with the fact that if I don't do it, I'll get even _more _as a punishment."

Sirius had to agree. It wasn't fair. James was coming of age that Wednesday and homework wasn't really something you wanted to be lumbered with on your seventeenth. But they had learned what the punishment was for not doing it: more homework. The outlook wasn't positive. Sirius muttered something consoling and smiled as he saw Laura coming through the portrait hole. She cleared herself a space on the table by sweeping Moony's Arithmancy charts onto the floor. He yelped and picked them up again. She put on her sweetest most apologetic face.

"Moooneey," she began pleadingly.

"Don't disturb him, he's on the verge of a nervous breakdown," James interrupted.

"But I don't understand Transfiguration. This is so much harder for me! You guys have been doing this sort of stuff for five years longer than I have," she moaned, "and if I don't finish this essay… you know Dumbledore. Lovely, but particular about homework."

Sirius did; he was working on the essay himself. _Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of human transfiguration._ "Here, let me see," he supplied. She smiled gratefully and shifted her things until she was sitting on his knee. He kissed her neck and then proceeded to explain the idea to her. "Well, theoretically, you could transfigure yourself into a fish or something and then you'd be able to breathe underwater…"

"Speaking of birthdays, though, James," he continued later, "what are we going to do on Wednesday?"

"Homework, at this rate," James replied gloomily, now trying to rub an ink blot off his parchment. Sirius thought.

"I think there are still a couple of bottles of Ogden's in the lab," he said finally. "We could crack those… it won't be nearly as good as your last one, though, mate," he added apologetically. Last year James' birthday had fallen on a Hogsmeade weekend. Madam Rosmerta had been very accommodating. James shrugged.

"Last year's kinda hard to beat," he said reminiscently. "The Ogden's sounds great."

So after dinner on Wednesday, the Marauders made a detour to the kitchens before returning to the lab. The best parties, Sirius thought, were the ones they had with just the four of them. They played stupid games like Charades and Truth or Dare and then, as the Ogden's started to disappear faster, moved on to tongue twisters…

It wasn't until the second bottle was half-empty that Sirius began to feel tipsy; Peter, always the lightweight, was already asleep and Moony looked as though he was going that way. James sat down heavily. Sirius grabbed the bottle and tried to follow him and land in a chair, but the ground didn't want to co-operate and he missed both bottle and chair quite spectacularly and ended up sitting on the floor, blinking as the bottle rolled away. He looked up at James, but the way his friend's face was swimming around made him feel seasick, so he stopped.

The bottle touched Moony's feet. "No, thanks," the werewolf mumbled, kicking at it and sending it back to them. James lunged for it, but overshot and ended up in Sirius' lap. "Smooth," he commented. James looked up as though to reach for his wand, but it was on the other side of the room, so he sat up carefully and majestically shook out the sleeves of his robes.

"Accio!" he cried; the wand twitched feebly but didn't move closer.

Moony shook his head gently and blinked a few times. "It didn't work," he said unnecessarily.

"No shit, Sherlock," Sirius said, echoing Laura's favourite saying.

"It should have worked," Moony replied. "You can do some minor spells without having your wand actually in your hand."

"Like what?" Sirius asked, taking his own wand out of his pocket and twirling it in his hands.

"Lumos. Summoning charm. Anything that would help you get it back."

James lurched unsteadily towards his wand and snatched it up. Sirius grinned. "We should have a competition!" He meant the statement to be epic and momentous, but his tongue got a little caught up over the word 'competition'. James slumped down beside him and gently placed his wand in front of his crossed legs. Sirius followed suit. "Come on, Moony."

Moony stood up from his chair, but his legs weren't ready and he fell right over on Sirius' other side. Sirius tried to laugh, but it made his head feel funny. Moony groaned. Sirius grabbed the back of his robes and tried to haul the werewolf up; the center of his balance shifted and he ended up on top of him.

"You all right, Moony?"

"Get off me, Padfoot…"

"Right, sorry…" he clambered down quickly. "Right. We're going to light our wands, okay?"

"I'll light your wand in a minute," Moony grumbled, picking himself up. "All right – _Lumos!"_ Moony's wand spluttered, then lit feebly; the light flickered briefly, then died.

"Pssh," Sirius dismissed. "Pathetic. I can do better than that. _Lumos!_"

For an instant, the lab was lit by a flash brighter than lightning, that lived and died in a heartbeat. There was silence. "That was weird," James observed calmly. "Do it again."

Sirius blinked to get rid of the lingering brightness of the flash. "No," he said firmly. "Your turn."

"All right," James replied, psyching himself up. "I'm gunna waste both of you. My spell's gunna be… um… like… like normal." He paused for a while, briefly lamenting the loss of all impact from that sentence. Then he shrugged, sat up straight, and concentrated.

"_Lumos._"

He waited. Nothing happened. "Lumos! _Lumos!_" Sirius chuckled.

"Consider us _wasted_, mate," he said dryly. James shot him an angry look.

"C'mon… lumos… Lumos, please… _Lumos!_" He sighed and keeled theatrically over backwards. "All right," he proclaimed from the floor. "_Knox_."

"Knox what?" Sirius chipped in. "There's nothing to Knox."

"Knox your face," James retorted.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!" James clambered laboriously to his feet.

"Oh, great, real mature, guys," Moony said resignedly, retreating to an armchair with the bottle of Ogden's in his hand. "Start a fist-fight, then."

"Come on, then," Sirius said, louder than he'd intended to. "Take a swing at me, then!"

James lunged forwards, fist swinging wildly to miss Sirius' face by about two feet; his momentum carried him until he landed, flat on his face, at the other boy's feet. Sirius laughed. "I love you, man," he said genuinely, attempting to haul James to his feet but failing. "And I will always be here to remind you not to pick fights when you're drunk."

James laughed too, and finally regained his footing. "Thanks, I think, Padfoot." He looked around for the Odgen's, but Moony quickly hid it under his robes and James soon gave up. "Hey, speaking of love, how did you manage to get Laura? I mean, she's different than Eva and Alice and stuff, right? So… so how? Why? Who?"

Sirius tried to think. "I don't know," he said finally. "I just… I just told her I loved her, and I do, and I didn't pretend to be something I'm not, like I did with all the others, so she knew I felt differently about her."

"Yeah," Moony interjected, "that's where you're going wrong, Prongs. You need to just be yourself around Lily. And tell her, like, seriously, about how you love her and stuff."

"What do you know, Moony?" James asked petulantly. "You've only had one girlfriend and _she_ came up to _you_."

"No," Sirius said. "He's right. If you tell her anything Siriusly, she's bound to like you." He snorted at the pun, but James didn't find it as funny as he did. "Siriusly, mate. You just have to tell her how you actually feel about her, show her that you don't just want to get into her pants."

James sighed. "If I remember that in the morning, I'll tell her. Thanks, guys. I love you so much."

"No," said Sirius, remembering an earlier point and feeling an urgent need to express it, "I meant I _love_ you. Before, I mean. I love you more than… more than…" he searched for a comparison, "more than Snivelly loves Slughorn!" he finished triumphantly.

James sat down on Moony; the werewolf yelled and splashed Ogden's all over him. He jumped up and settled in his own armchair. "Snivellus," he spat vindictively, licking his arm where the Ogden's was itching his skin.

"Yup."

"Don't you just hate his scrawny… greasy…"

"Three words: matchstick. Gasoline. Snivellus." Sirius said, remembering the time last year when they'd been in counseling for three months for lighting the Slytherin on fire. Moony groaned.

"What is it with you guys and Snivellus – I mean Severus Snape?"

James and Sirius stared at him, mouths open. "It's Snivellus! He's so… so greasy…"

"And flammable…"

"And awkward…"

"And snivelly…"

"And he's always hanging around Lily, like he… like he _likes_ her or something," James finished resolutely.

"So do you," Moony pointed out.

"But it's Snivelly," Sirius stuttered helplessly. Then the helpless feeling vanished, replaced by a renewed hatred for the gawky, bat-like Slytherin boy. "It's Snivellus. He's just a foul-mouthed, vindictive little Death-Eater-to-be. I just want to… want to show him Moony on a bad day." Moony tipped the bottle back absently, missing his name.

"Yes!" James cried suddenly. "That's a brilliant idea! Moony?" The werewolf grunted. "When's your next bad day?"

"Every day," he said bitterly, throwing back the bottle again.

There was silence while James and Sirius watched Moony intently, waiting for a proper answer. He looked up at them. "You can't be serious," he said incredulously, but even _he_ knew they were.

"I'm always Sirius," he said, deadpan.

"C'mon, Moony. You know you want to teach the slimy little greaseball a lesson."

And in his drunkenly addled state, with Firewhisky sloshing noisily in his ears, Remus Lupin had to agree.

* * *

**A/N: The story about the matchstick and the gasoline doesn't actually belong to me, I apologise, it belongs to **EmmiChick**, who wrote a story entitled _A Very Painful Interview Indeed _that had me in stitches when I read it for the fourth time last week. You should read it. Great for laffs, as Captain Underpants would say. **

**Well, I have one more chapter written to type up, then it'll probably slow down a bit. Especially if you don't review. But I just finished another chapter of my other fic so I'll start chapter 13 tonight. Hear from you soon, I hope?**

**-for you!**


	12. Full Moon

**A/N: And again! God, I'm good! Or, rather, God, I'm bored. Oh, well. Here it is. A few awkward moments ensued when the line "It was a dangerous game, the one he played with himself..." broketwo pages so that when I turned the page all I could see was "he played with himself"; it was almost as bad as the Count-minus-the-U problem I have with _The Boat That _Rocked. I'm afraid my cookie plan failed spectacularly, but I'll try a different way next time, ok? Enjoy!**

Remus Lupin sat alone in the castle grounds, his back propped against the stone wall, his knees pulled up against his chest. The dark silhouette of the Whomping Willow loomed frighteningly above him, its limbs flailing gently in the breeze. It looked almost peaceful, black against the darkening blue sky, but it struck such terror into Moony's heart that his hands shook against his knee.

The full moon was rising. He could see a brilliant sliver of it gently growing above the Forbidden Forest, pulling him onwards. He sighed and stood up; he wasn't in the mood for games tonight.

It was a dangerous game, the one he played with himself when he felt daring and rebellious. Somebody had done this to him. Wasn't it, therefore, in his feral nature to do it to others? A part of him, a part that Moony hated with an unhealthy passion, wanted to. Wouldn't it feel good, that part whispered in his ear, just once, to let go, cave in to instinct and taste blood, warm, human blood, on his claws and his teeth, its rich stench clogging his over-sensitive nostrils –

A further tremor in his fingertips jerked Moony back into himself as his humanity began to bleed from him. The game was in fooling the moon; waiting until the last possible moment before he dashed between the roots of the tree, flirting with the dangerous, intoxicating thought that he might not make it.

Moony hated the part of himself that played games. He stumbled forwards, not wanting to play this time, and tried to resist the urge to bend forwards onto all fours and howl his defiance at the moon. When he was younger, he had tried to beat the moon with the sheer force of his willpower; to resist the urges as they came over him, to will himself to stay human and remember who he was, but his name became a meaningless incantation that dissolved into nothingness. _Lupin_. It was too similar, eerily, to the lupine part of himself he used it to ward off. He broke off into a clumsy, uncoordinated run as his fingernails started to grow and change; his face was aching like nothing a human being could bear as he dived under the roots of the Willow; he dashed on all fours down the earthy tunnel and exploded with a primal snarl into the living room of the Shack. As the full moon bathed the ripped furniture in ethereal light, the werewolf lifted its head and howled…

* * *

Sirius sat hunched in the dungeon corridor by himself, head resting on his knees in an almost comforting foetal position.

What he was about to do would change his life forever. From the moment Snape walked around the corner beside him… it would _hurt _others, certainly. He would be cruel, heartless. But didn't slimy Snivelly Snape deserve what was coming? Wouldn't it teach him a much-needed lesson and make his life richer for it?

It all depended on Moony. Sirius already felt terrible for his friend, down in the Shrieking Shack alone and uncontrolled.

Uncontrollable. It all depended on how much Moony would hurt Snape. But how much _would_ that be? Even Sirius didn't want to see him _mauled_, and definitely not _bitten_. Was this even a good idea? How would they know when to intervene?

Sirius glanced furtively up and down the corridor. Snape was taking longer to show than they thought he would. His fingers began tapping impatiently on the freezing stone floor as the debate raged on in his head. How could he tell James he wasn't going to do it? They'd agreed. Teach him a lesson. Don't let it get serious.

But how could they –

"What are you doing down here, Black?" The debate grew more frenzied at the sound of Snape's voice, then he stood up stiffly.

"I… I want to show you something." He looked so conflicted and nervous, the Slytherin boy believed him.

* * *

James sat sprawled languidly in an armchair by the fire in the Gryfindor common room, an incomplete Charms essay spread across a table in front of him. He was tired. It was late. But the full moon grinned devilishly through the bay windows, throwing dancing patterns on the tapestried walls, reminding him of why he was still awake when all the other Gryfindors were in bed.

He heaved his body up in the chair and glanced out the window again. Sirius was taking so long… every minute he wasted on Snape was a minute the werewolf under the Willow became less human, more savage, more absolutely uncontrollable. If he waited much longer, it could be dangerous.

He didn't even know why the two of them had gone ahead and planned this. Their hangovers that morning had, admittedly, been beyond anything James wanted to feel on his first morning of being truly free from Underage Restriction. But once they'd worn off? Sirius had been grumpy because Laura hadn't approved of the way they'd left Peter practically coma-ed on the floor, but still, no-one in their right mind would even consider something as dangerous, even potentially fatal, as this.

But the idea had taken seed, and the two of them had planned and plotted until they were sure nothing could go wrong. Even Moony had agreed to it, in a rare moment of disregard for rules and regulations and sheer common sense.

And why? James hardly knew any more. Especially now, as he checked the watch his parents had given him for his birthday. Now it was not only reckless but downright stupid.

A distant howl rent the air; James twisted violently in his armchair to look out the window again. This time, as he watched, the great front door crept slightly open, and two dark-haired heads crept cautiously out into the open.

James Potter swore. Sirius must know what time it was! It was too late now for a human to go anywhere near Moony and he knew that they couldn't transform anywhere near Snape for fear of him telling Dippet they could.

Of course he'd snitch. James' expletives grew steadily worse as he snatched up his wand and cannoned head-first into the portrait hole.

* * *

The werewolf writhed in the pool of moonlight on the boarded floor, limbs flailing, claws catching painfully on the ripped furniture around it. Blood smeared sickly on the wood from the many gcuts and gashes on its long snout.

The smell of its own blood filled its mouth and smothered the back of its tongue until it was drowning in it, crazy with it, clawing desperately at its snout and tongue to rid itself of the clinging sensation.

It worsened as its claws drew further blood, driving the creature into a wild, feral rage; it threw itself into the walls of the Shack again and again and again until its animal head spun. Its claws caught on a last remaining shred of blood-red carpet and pulled it with the werewolf as it galloped clumsily up the stairs and into the bedroom; catlike, it attempted to claw its way up the bed-hangings, but they collapsed on top of it and the creature struggled until it was trussed up like a battery hen, its howls staining the moth-eaten grandeur of the relatively unvisited bedroom.

Finally the whirlwind of consuming rage died, leaving the monster inert on the plum-coloured duvet.

Its chest rose and fell quickly under the hangings; it slowly maneuvered its legs out of the fabric and stood up almost calmly on the boarded floor. It padded gently to the door and descended the stairs, the primal panic growing again in its great chest.

Suddenly every muscle in its body tensed, its legs crouching, ears pricked in silent, predatorial menace.

Someone was coming.

* * *

Sirius Black led his worst enemy down the stone steps outside the Front Door. Severus Snape had seemed reluctant at first, mistrusting; but Sirius was still so nervous it seemed to lull him into some superficial sense of security.

This made him feel slightly angry. His nerves were comforting? His hatred for the gawky Slytherin boy increased tenfold. He sped up; Snape broke into a shambling, awkward run to keep up.

"Where are we going, Black? You haven't told me where you're taking me." Snape's snivelly, whining voice stopped abruptly as he caught sight of the Willow.

Sirius smiled. "We're going in," he said, playing up the dramatic effect of the words.

"But it's the Whomping Willow!" he stuttered pathetically. "It hits people! We'll be beheaded and dismembered!"

Sirius laughed harshly. "Shut up, Snivelly," he said. "We won't be dismembered by the Willow." A flicker of fear, not for himself but for the other boy, at what lay _beyond_ the Willow shook him briefly, but he pushed it away. The twilight, though fading, was still evident. They'd be fine.

Snape's whimpering grew louder as the Willow loomed; finally it stopped. "Now what, Black?"

They had reached the base of the Willow. "Shut up, Snivelly." Sirius grabbed a long stick from the edge of the Forbidden Forest and held it out at arm's length towards the tree, ignoring Snape's scathing comments.

The Willow froze as the stick hit the right knot; Snape shut up quickly. Sirius looked back at him, grinning, as he stood stumped, his mouth slightly open.

"It just… _stopped_," he quavered. "I – Black, what are we doing?"

The other boy's grin widened. "You ever wondered where Remus Lupin goes every month?" Snape's eyes widened. "We're going down there." He pointed at the hole between the huge roots. "Shall I go first?"

Dumbstruck, Snape nodded, and Sirius lowered himself into the tunnel. "Careful," he whispered, straightening up as much as he could in the earthy cave. "The ceiling's a bit low."

Snape, however, wasn't tall enough for his head to touch it. Sirius snorted. "Or not," he said. He looked up at the tunnel ahead and his heart began to pound painfully until his whole body shook with it. It was later than he'd imagined. Maybe they shouldn't.

"Come on, then," Snape muttered impatiently, shouldering him aside. Sirius hissed something incoherent. Too late to turn back now.

They walked along the tunnel for ages, every moment stretching out endlessly until it felt like they must have walked all the length of England. Then all of a sudden it was over and the two of them stood in the middle of the Shrieking Shack, their feet illuminated eerily by the moonlight puddling on the floor.

Snape swore in s hushed, awed voice. The Shack was completely ruined, the furniture torn to shreds, fresh blood smeared over the rough floorboards. Sirius turned around slowly and realized that Snape's curse hadn't been directed at the condition of the room.

* * *

The two boys found themselves face to face with a fully-fledged, absolutely deranged werewolf.

* * *

**A/N: Muahahaha. You may be thinking I _can't_ kill off anyone here because that would make it AU, but I'm telling the story, so I can do whatever I want. The moment I started this it became mine, not JK Rowling's, and she'll never read this, will she, so she'll never know that Snape couldn't save Harry all the way back in first year, because the Marauders killed him in their sixth, or that Harry, in fact, never existed at all because his father died saving a boy he absolutely hated before his mother stopped thinking he was a twat. Beware. I hold enormous power.**

**I have your testicles in my hands, as it were. And it feels good.**

**-for you.**


	13. Werewolf

**A/N: Here we are again! Only two more after this one, folks, and my God it feels good to be able to say that. I'm crossing my fingers and stroking my internet modem at them moment; it was running fine until I downloaded iTunes. Hmmm. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter and review it, because I'd hate to have to hold the end hostage...**

**-for you**

* * *

James hurtled down the corridor, ignoring the Fat Lady's sleepy protests as her portrait banged against the wall. A tearing stitch split his side and each breath burned his gasping lungs as he sprinted as fast as he could down the five flights of stairs to the Entrance hall. He nearly knocked tiny Professor Flitwick right off his feet as he dashed past the doors to the Great Hall and burst out of the front doors.

Panic crashed and clattered in his chest as he covered the ground between the Front Door and the Willow at breakneck pace. He had to get there in time – had to be faster, why couldn't he move faster? He was going to be too late…

James was so focused on forcing one leg in front of the other that he forgot about the Willow. One moment he was nearly there, the next, with an agonizing _thud_, he was five yards further back, landing heavily on his backside, feeling blood fill his mouth as the Willow leaned back for another go. He tried to scramble to his feet but slipped and had to twist painfully on the ground to avoid the savage branches.

Gasping, he hauled himself up just in time to avoid a second sweep and limped to the edge of the Forest. He'd hurt his ankle, probably landing after the first wallop. Something, he wasn't sure what, in his mouth was bleeding quite badly and James, not liking to spit, was swallowing mouthfuls of his own blood at regular intervals. He felt sick.

But he had to find a long stick, or he'd soon feel worse. James searched around him for one that would do the job, but in vain; kindling and odd bits of bark surrounded him. His mantra of expletives struck up again, bursting from his mouth in a steady stream.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He swung round, a yelp escaping from his lips, his fist flying at head-height. It swung right around through thin air.

He looked down, his heart slowing again fractionally. It was Peter, his wand in his hand, his odd, lumpy face pale. As he watched the smaller boy, still too shocked to do anything, Peter stowed his wand carefully in his pocket and began to shrink.

Of all the transformations James saw every month, Peter's was the strangest. His human form was plump and timid, his animal form skeletal and mean-looking. A few seconds later the rat darted away between the flailing branches of the willow.

James followed the other Marauder bewilderedly under the roots of the huge tree. He emerged to the boy's human form in the dark tunnel. "What are you doing here?" he whispered.

Peter smiled weakly. "It's full moon. You couldn't do it without me."

James grinned. Peter had opted out of the plan when they discussed it with him. "No, Wormy," he said happily, clapping him on the arm, "we couldn't. Come on."

They hurried along the pathway, each breath sounding like the beating of some great gong. Then James stopped, hearing his best friend's voice.

"Snivelly," it said, quiet but dangerous, "don't move.'

One final curse sounded in James' mind before he burst out of the tunnel and into the Shack. He barely had time to register his surroundings: Snape, looking like he _couldn't _have moved even if he'd wanted to, Sirius frozen, one arm outstretched, and the werewolf, crouched low to the ground,, a deep, menacing growl reverberating in its feral throat.

Then it leapt, and without thinking James leapt too, throwing himself between the monster and the prone Slytherin. It was what he always did when the werewolf pounced; his reflexive brain didn't stop to realize that it wasn't Prongs this time. To the werewolf, he was just another body, another warm, human body.

Its claws rent James' chest in two; he gasped for breath as blood stained his robes and seeped through the fresh tears the wild creature had just left there.

James looked up at the werewolf. It had managed to land right in front of him instead of bowling him over, but rage flared to an inferno in its black eyes and it jumped again. As he grappled with it, too vulnerable in his humanity, he didn't hear Sirius shout at Peter to get Snape outside, didn't hear the inhuman snarl as the boy transformed; all he heard and saw and felt was his consuming tussle with the fully-fledged werewolf that bit and clawed and tore at his skin.

Something dark flew over the edge of his sight and knocked the creature down; James took in Sirius' animal form with blind relief and let instinct take over. The pain was agonizing as antlers deformed his head and pelt grew around the deep gashes in his chest.

Prongs tried to roar defiantly, but as he stood there, the last of his energy drained from him like water from a plughole, and all was darkness.

Padfoot clambered off the werewolf as he saw Prongs fall; as the creature twisted and got back to its feet, he saw Moony in its eyes again. He ran to the prone stag and placed a sensitive ear on its bloody chest, but was met by silence.

The dog sat back on its haunches and looked at the werewolf. Its grey eyes, Moony's eyes, looked back. _Is he…_

_I think… I think so._

He needed help _now_, but the two animals knew that there was nothing they could do until the moon had set and Moony returned to normal. A desperate canine tear hit the stag's torn pelt as the two animals threw back their heads and howled in despair.

* * *

"You did _what?_"

Sirius cowered against Laura's pale, livid face. He felt like his whole world was caving in; first James was the sole object of Madam Pomfrey's attentions, who insisted that he was still alive, but barely there; then Moony had locked himself in the lab and wouldn't let anyone in or even come out for class. Now Laura was pacing fitfully around the empty Gryffindor common room, her hands tearing at her hair.

"We didn't mean to," he said dully.

"So Moony's in the lab because he thinks he's _killed_ his _best friend?_"

"Yes," he replied, casting a glance at the blue door. "But… it was my fault." He stood up and moved over to the window, one arm hugging himself, the other pressed against the glass to keep him upright. He needed her to hold him and tell him it was going to be all right, but still she stood far away from him, angry and disgusted. He wanted to run, run far, far away, run so fast time itself spun backwards to a day when James and Moony had laughed and Laura was always there. His fist clenched against the frigid windowpane and Sirius found every muscle in his body tense painfully, twisted in self-revulsion. How could he let this happen? He'd _known_ it would end like this. No wonder his girlfriend wouldn't touch him.

"Laura," he choked, "Laura, what have I done?" He shut his eyes against the look on her face, torn between pity and anger.

Pity won out, because suddenly her arms were around him, holding him tighter than he'd ever been held before, until he began to feel secure again. "You didn't know," she whispered into his shoulder as tears squeezed from between his tight-shut eyelids. "It's okay. James is going to be okay." He wanted so badly to believe her, but the lab door was still resolutely locked in the corner of his eyes.

"Moony," he whispered in anguish.

"He'll be all right," she soothed, but she sounded unsure; she knew Moony almost as well as he did, knew that this was a blow from which he would not recover easily. "Whatever happens, Padfoot," she said, using his nickname for the first time, "you've still got me."

Sirius didn't turn around as he heard the portrait hole open. His eyes still shut, he needed to ignore everything except Laura, Laura who loved him even though James was inches away from death because of _his_ recklessness.

There was a silvery chuckle of amusement from behind them. "I thought I might find you two here." He opened his eyes and turned in Dumbledore's direction without letting Laura go. "Do you know where I might find Mr. Pettigrew?" Sirius shook his head, too dazed to even wonder.

"I think he's in the hospital wing with James, Professor," Laura supplied.

"We must have just missed each other, then," the Transfiguration teacher said cheerfully. "Perhaps you could attempt to call Mr. Lupin back to reality," Sirius' stomach lurched as he nodded with a slight wink at the blue lab door. "Mr. Potter is awake."

Relief surged through Sirius, leaving him quite weak at the knees. Laura gently relaxed her hold on him and went over to the door. "Remus?" she tried cautiously. "Remus, Professor Dumbledore's out here, and he says James is awake." No reply. "He'll want to see you."

There was a long pause. Then Moony's voice, hoarse almost beyond recognition, sounded. "No, he won't."

"Of course he will, Remus. You're one of his best friends."

"I'm the reason he is the way he is. It's my fault."

"No, Moony," Sirius said clearly. "If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. _I_ was still me, I could think rationally. I…" he stopped briefly as a shiver took over his voice. "I led Snape down there." He glanced at Dumbledore, who was giving him a severe, piercing look. "I was the one who could have stopped it, but I didn't. You had nothing to do with it – you were just another victim." He sat down on the edge of an armchair. "Moony? I'm sorry."

Moony didn't reply. Dumbledore stepped forwards. "Mr. Lupin, I really must insist that you come with us. Your continued absences from class are really quite disappointing and I will not see you let down your friends in the same way you are letting down your teachers. Mr. Potter will not blame you for his incapacitation and Madam Pomfrey assures me that there has been no lasting harm done."

There was a pause, then the lab door opened. Sirius' gut wrenched as he saw Moony. His face was waxy and gaunt, his grey eyes even more haunted than usual. A thin dark set of four scars swiped across one cheek and Sirius knew they came from _his_ claws.

"Oh, Remus –" Laura, still standing right in front of the door, threw her arms around him. He looked down at her in mild surprise.

"Do I look that bad?" he tried, but one glance at Sirius' face told him that he did, so he gave up. "Come on, then."

* * *

A/N: **As much as I love my laptop (because flattery does work on machinery, trust me) he really can't scroll. Sorry, Gordon. Anyway. Hey, do you guys know where the apostrophe goes when it's a name ending with 's'? I've been saying 'James'' but I just realised it's not plural, is it... so would it in fact be 'James's'? Tell me when you review, won't you.**

**-for you!**


	14. Home Again

**A/N: Took a while, yes, I know, I'm sorry. I started writing a novel. This chapter sounded so much better in my head than it does on paper, you have no idea. But I hope it'll keep you James/Lily shippers happy for now... oops, that was a bit of a spoiler, wasn't it? All I'm saying right now is OMG it's finally finished! I apologise for any typos because quite frankly I just wanted to get it out of the way. It's taken, like, 18 months, but it's finally finished and if you're willing to wait another few months I can even give you an epilogue too, you know, to explain what happened with Sirius and Laura, and Moony and Andy, and stuff. Anyway that's all in the future. What will come, will come. In the meantime, enjoy the FINAL chapter of Black thoughts! *triumphant cackling***

**-for you!**

Sirius flopped down in his seat and revelled in the noise the red leather made as he sat. His weeks of detentions for the Snape prank had failed quite spectacularly to curb his love of attention. James grinned at him and Moony raised an uninterested eyebrow from his Arithmancy textbook. He threw a packet of Droobles at Peter and waved an incredulous hand at his studying friend. "We're on the train home for the summer and he's still buried in his schoolwork." Peter smiled. Sirius directed his attention to the werewolf. "Hey, Moony, it's the holidays. Relax."

Moony slowly put down the book. "Professor Vector said we shouldn't call it a holiday. It's a period of time where we don't have to attend school."

"The difference being?" James asked, taking advantage of the break to wave a pack of cards in front of his eyes. "Exploding Snap, anyone?"

The carriage door slipped open and Laura stepped through. "Hey, guys," she said lightly. She sat on Sirius and he kissed her neck. "I can't stay,' she said, leaning into him. "I promised Lily and Eva I'd sit with them." She made a face at the last name. James made a worse one at the first.

Lily Evans had been rigidly avoiding James since the Snape incident. All falling-out between Lily and Snape seemed to be forgotten in the light of this new injustice and now every time James entered a room, Lily would leave it, dragging Laura with her, much to Sirius' disgust.

"All right, then," he said reluctantly. "Guess we can't argue with that."

She smiled. "I'll come visit you," she said softly. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he said, kissing her again. She stood up and moved to the door; then she looked back at James.

"I'm sure if you just talked to her, she'd…" she faltered. "Worth a try?" James made a noncommittal gesture. She gave Sirius one last smile, then left.

There was a brief silence. "Sorry, I guess," James said to Sirius. "It's my fault she couldn't stay."

"No, it's not," Sirius replied, seeing the all-too-familiar wretched look on his best friend's face. "It's my fault, really."

"Maybe Laura's right though," Peter volunteered after another pause while James dealt cards. "Maybe if you just talked to her…"

"Are you kidding?" James fumbled his deal and dropped a card, which imploded on the vinyl floor before he could pick it up. "She'd bite my head off and run away before I had a chance to open my mouth."

Moony propped up his trunk between them as a table. "I agree with Wormtail," he said easily. "If you get your words out right, you might have a chance. Otherwise you've lost her forever, and I know you don't want that."

Sirius placed his first card on Moony's trunk and the game started ferociously. "What am I supposed to say, anyway? We didn't do anything to hurt _her_. I don't know why she's even angry at _me_."

"Women," Sirius said knowledgeably. Moony shot him a stern look.

"Well, you'd know more about them than the rest of us," he said, an amused trace of sarcasm in his dry voice. "Why don't _you_ coach Prongs through apologising to Evans?"

"I think he should stop calling her 'Evans' for a start," Peter put in mildly. "It's quite insulting when people only call you by your last name."

James reached across Moony to hit Peter lightly on the chest. "What would you know, Wormy," he said.

"He's right, actually," Sirius said hastily, at a look from Moony. "You need to treat her like an equal, or even as superior to you. Deflate your head a bit." He cringed at how hypocritical he knew he was being with that statement. "Just be honest. Tell her how you feel, like, how you _really_ feel."

James had a thoughtful look on his face now. Moony threw a card nonchalantly on the pile, not really looking to see what it was. "And don't try to stick up for yourself. For… what we did. Don't justify it, or she'll get angry."

"She'll get angry anyway," he maintained sullenly.

"At least you can say you tried, then, mate."

"Snap!" Peter cried suddenly, slapping the cards and toppling the trunk over in the process. It hit the ground with a resounding _crash_.

"That'll be the books," said James, smirking at Moony's despairing face.

"Damn, they were alphabetised and everything," Sirius joined in teasingly. The fact that he'd _seen_ Moony carefully alphabetise and stack his books in his trunk earlier just made it funnier.

The door opened and Andromeda walked in; Moony hurriedly retracted his tongue and Peter picked himself up off the floor. "Hey, Remus," she said shyly. "Hey, guys."

Moony stood up and hugged her. "Hey."

Sirius grinned at his cousin. "Want to play cards?"

The deck, right on cue, exploded underneath the huge trunk, making it jump slightly. Andy flinched.

Silence reigned briefly as everyone stared blankly at Moony's trunk. Then James determinedly stood up. "Right," he said firmly. "I'm going to talk to Lily."

Sirius stood up too. "Moral support?" he offered. James grimaced, then nodded. Moony and Andy sat down.

"Good luck," the werewolf said gravely. Peter sat, looking lost. If he went with James and Sirius, he'd end up alone with the rest of the Gryffindor girls if the stunt worked, hated by them if it didn't. If he stayed with Moony and Andy, he'd be an unnecessary third-wheel. Not for the first time, Peter felt left-out and out of place in the Marauders.

Sirius caught the look and felt bad. Andy caught it too and turned to involve him in their conversation. Sirius almost could have kissed her. "Next mission," he muttered to James as they slid the carriage door shut after them. "Find Peter a girlfriend."

* * *

Sirius gently opened the carriage door and stepped inside tentatively. The five girls stopped their high-pitched conversation abruptly and turned to look at him. Lily's face darkened. Laura's brightened. "Hey, Padfoot," she greeted happily. Sirius returned the greeting, then turned to the other girl.

"Lily," he said in a low voice, "I'd really appreciate it if you'd listen to what James is about to say. It took him a lot of guts to come here and say it." She gave him a stern look, but as James followed him into the carriage looking meek and nervous, he thought he saw her brilliant green eyes soften. Sirius went to sit beside Laura. "Thanks," he whispered. She beamed.

"Lily…" James stumbled and almost fell on her as the train lurched. "Sorry – Lily, I've… I've been really arrogant to you my whole life," he said finally. "I'm really sorry. You don't deserve that. You don't deserve _me_, I know that now, but I…" the train lurched again and he somehow landed on his bottom, cross-legged at her feet. He bore this with as much dignity as he could muster and stayed there. "I really like you, Lily, and I always have. All that stuff I did back then, after the DADA OWL last year and stuff, I only did it to make you like me."

Sirius flinched; bad move. He almost expected Lily to retaliate to that, but she was silent, watching him, her face inscrutable. "It was stupid and I know that now," he said, his voice clear and getting louder. "But I love you, Lily, I do, and if you even think that one day you _could_ love me back then I'd love to…"

Lily raised an eyebrow and James sighed, acknowledging his loss of eloquence. "What I'm trying to ask you is… do you want to… I mean, would you please… go out with me?"

Sitting doglike at her feet as he was, he managed to look completely docile and gorgeous. Eva, Chastity and Josephine behind him made soft 'aaw' noises, as though at a puppy in a window.

He _had_ done a pretty good job. Sirius thought he saw the side of Lily's pretty mouth twitch; but he couldn't be sure as she took a deep breath and let it out gently.

"Wow, James," she said slowly. "You know… this doesn't make anything you did better."

James' face, which had lifted hopefully at her initial response, fell again. "I know. I'm sorry." He made to stand up, but she put a hand on her head and her touch made him stand stock still like a farmyard chicken.

"I've always liked you, James," she said, smiling. "I just never realised you liked me just as much as I liked you." Sirius felt Laura's hand clench in his own. James stood up slowly and Laura shifted onto Sirius' lap to make room for him to sit next to her.

"You're serious?" he asked tentatively.

"Of course," she replied, and pecked him lightly on the lips. Laura started a round of applause as he went in for a proper kiss, and the rest of the carriage joined in enthusiastically. _Finally_, Sirius thought, tightening his hold on Laura's waist. James' wait was finally over.

* * *

Sirius stepped off the train with Laura's hand in his, still smiling at the unfamiliar sight of the two couples in front of him: Moony and Andy, and Lily and James.

Laura saw his look. "I know," she told him quietly. "Stranger things have been seen in the skies – but not by reliable witnesses."

He snorted. "What?"

"From the _Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,_" she said in surprise. Then her face clouded over. "A Muggle book," she said sadly. "The funniest thing I'd read until your essay on w_hy Muggles need electricity_."

Sirius smiled, remembering the essay that had earned him a week's detention with Professor Burbage. "I'll have to read it sometime."

"You will," Laura agreed. "I'll bring it… next year." The statement brought a hollow sensation to the pit of Sirius' stomach. _Next year._

"Hello, hello, hello," came a teasing voice over the crowd. "What have we here?" James stopped dead.

"Hi, Mrs. Potter," Moony said innocently.

"Oh, hello, Remus dear," she cooed, not taking her eyes off James and Lily. "You're looking well. When are you coming to stay? You know you're always welcome."

"Next week sometime? I'll write."

"All right, dear. Nice to see you." Moony said his goodbyes, and he and Andy were soon lost in the sea of students being greeted by enthusiastic parents.

"Mum," said James awkwardly once he'd gone, "this is Lily."

"Lily?" Helena Potter repeated, looking the girl up and down. "I've heard a lot about you, Miss Evans, but I admit I never thought I'd actually meet you."

Lily gulped at the use of her unmentioned last name, and Sirius chuckled. "Um… hi."

Mrs. Potter smiled, and warmth came radiating out of every line on her careworn but still pretty face. "I'm Helena. Good to finally meet the girl that's had my son tied up for years." Lily grinned and the two women shook hands. "I hope you can keep him in line," Helena said ruefully, turning her attention to her son.

"Doubt it," Lily said fondly.

"And convince him to get a haircut," the older woman added. "He won't half look stupid with that mop blowing about his face on the Quidditch pitch."

"James, get a haircut," Lily said instantly, earning an approving smile from Helena. "You won't half look stupid with that mop blowing about your face on the Quidditch pitch."

"All right, I get it," James replied, holding up his hands. "I'll get a haircut, okay?"

Lily smiled. "Okay. I'd better go, I can hear Petunia's voice from here. Probably best if you don't meet her." She kissed James again.

"You should come and stay during the holidays," Helena offered.

"I'd like that," she replied. "Bye, Sirius. Bye, Laura."

"I'm coming with you," Laura cut in quickly. "That tall guy behind your mother is my big brother Josh." Laura turned to Sirius. "Guess this is goodbye, then, Padfoot."

"I'll write," he said cheerfully.

"Tomorrow morning."

"Tonight," he rejoined, the two of them grinning at their own half-faked sappiness. She said a quick goodbye to everyone else and skipped off with Lily. Sirius turned back to a slightly amused-looking Mrs. Potter.

"You care about her, too, don't you?" she said wryly. Sirius nodded, making like it wasn't a big deal. "Excellent," she rubbed her palms together villainously. "Leverage over the both of you.

"All right, my two lovely boys," she changed the subject briskly. "Home for the summer, then."

Before they stepped through the gate between the worlds, Sirius stopped and took one last look back. The sun sparkled cheekily off the gleaming back of the red steam engine, throwing shadows the shape of the high barred gates over the concrete floor. The wizarding world really was beautiful, he thought happily. The most beautiful it had ever been.

* * *

A**/N: And... the end! Muahahahaha! Moo-haha! Moo-haha! Again, stay posted if you want the epilogue, I vaguely remember something sensational, but I wrote it so long ago it's difficult to remember. If not, then YOUR ADVENTURE IS OVER, as they say in so many epic works of hyperfiction. (In your face, Mr. Mitchell, I even used it in everyday conversation!) I'd say see you next chapter, but there won't be one! I'm kind of over-milking this now, so I hope you enjoyed this fic, I was thinking about a sequel from Moony's POV, but it will probably remain forever in the pipeline like so many other brilliant fics. I'm at work now, so I'll have to say in true T-I-double guh-ER fashion, TTFE - Ta-ta for ever - and if you review I'll love you forever! And probably read/review something of yours to boot!**

**-for you!**


	15. Epilogue

Sirius Black passed his NEWTs with Outstanding marks (and an E in Potions) and continued on to complete his four years of Auror training with flying colours. Laura beat his Potions grade by one mark to gain the O and never let him forget it. On the night of his graduation into the Auror offices he proposed to her and she accepted.

Living mostly on Sirius' income, Laura joined the WADA (Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts) and soon became one of their star performers. She refused a number of big parts, leaving audiences mystified when she gave no reason. It was later found out that the WADA's new scriptwriter was none other than one Herbert Beery. She also heavily involved herself in volunteer services to integrate Muggle-borns into the wizarding community. The most talked-about wedding in wizarding England was scheduled for October the 15th, 1981. She was pregnant when this date was decided, and the happy couple had decided on the name Kitty for a girl and Regulus (the namesake having passed away some months earlier) for a boy.

On the 21st of September that year, Laura and her unborn child (it was later discovered to be a boy) were murdered by an unknown hand on her way home from a performance of _The Warlock's Hairy Heart. _Sirius never quite recovered from their deaths. Some people say he even went mad.

Lily and James Potter married young and were blessed with a son, Harry. Sirius was named godfather and secondary custodian. James quickly rose to deputy Head of the Auror Office; Lily went into the Department of International Magical Co-operation. On Hallowe'en night, 1981, they were killed by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself. Sirius arrived, heartbroken, at the scene to claim custody of Harry, but Albus Dumbledore had already orchestrated his removal from Godric's Hollow. He grew up with his decidedly Muggle aunt and uncle.

Only hours later, Sirius was found at the scene of the murder of thirteen innocents, including Peter Pettigrew. He was arrested on sight and sent to Azkaban without trial; although he protested his innocence, the evidence against him was overwhelming and the Ministry needed to look as though they were doing something.

Remus Lupin maintained a close friendship with James and Sirius despite having gained a scholarship to study Dark creatures in France for two years. When he returned from his trip he found his girlfriend Andromeda had left him for Muggle-born tough-guy Ted Tonks. After Lily and James' murder and Sirius' arrest, he moved to Hampshire, where he has lived quietly ever since, continuing his research, shutting off anyone who attempts to get close to him.

Sad, really. But I suppose if every story ended happily, Harry Potter would not have been special at all. And then we wouldn't be here, would we?

_In the dark  
We hide from ourselves  
From our souls  
And as our teardrops fall  
In emerald fire  
You howl at the moon…_


End file.
